Differences

There are a few words that are uses interchangeably but that I feel have different meanings. I felt it was important to share the meanings. I don't know why the idea came to my mind, but as I said in yesterday's blog "it's important to listen to your intuition".

Hear and Listen.

These definitely have a widely different meaning (at least to me). To me, when you hear something you're not really paying much attention to it. Like the rain pouring down on your roof. It is a sound that you acknowledge and nothing more really. However when you listen you are paying attention to the sound to the point that you still remember it a few days later. This is more easily compared to when you are listening to someone teaching you something you really want to learn. You pay close attention to the advice and instruction given by the person and you remember it. I feel more people hear and not enough listen, especially those that are my peers or younger.

Knowledge and Wisdom.

These are also different. Knowledge is what you know, and builds towards your intelligence. It's just facts, things you have learned. However Wisdom is what you understand and usually comes from experiences or thinking deeply about a concept/idea. It's one thing to know something, it's quite another to understand it.

Ignorance and Stupidity.

Ignorant means "Uninformed" and there is nothing shameful about being "ignorant". Unless of course you don't want to be informed and want to remain ignorant about it, that's when it becomes "stupidity". To me stupidity is when someone isn't willing to learn something. Like people who have formed their own opinions and refuse to be told they are wrong, those are stupid. However if that person is willing to hear the rest of the story (or the other side) and allow their opinions to be change then they were simply "ignorant". There is nothing shameful in ignorance, but there is in stupidity. There is a difference between not being willing to learn, and not being able to learn, that difference is that in one case someone tries their hardest and can't and in another they don't try at all.

I'm sure there are others out there, but these are the ones that come most easily to mind, and the ones I feel are more important to share. I know it seems a bit off topic, but I don't feel it is. One thing I think all religions should teach is that you should listen and not just hear, and that its better to be wise than intelligent. When talking to someone that thinks differently, I feel it's important to know if they are being stupid or are just simply ignorant.