Circle of Life, of thoughts...

Don't fall into this cycle...

We do have a tendence to make the simple complex.

Stay the child.

Rickie The Grey wrote: We do have a tendence to make the simple complex.

Stay the child.

I grew with this. Don't over think things. Sometimes, the simplest answer is the right one.

I think it is highly improbable to NOT fall into that cycle. That is part of the human experience. With age comes (usually) wisdom. In youth we only think we are wise.

KageKeeper wrote: In youth we only think we are wise.

That isn't always the case.

Right. Do not confuse experience and wisdom. Ironically, neither is obtained through age alone but through watching and caring for what is around. And even with experience wisdom may or may not come. But so it can without as well.

Rickie The Grey wrote:

KageKeeper wrote: In youth we only think we are wise.

That isn't always the case.

I think KageKeeper means it in the way that, when we are young, we are indeed wise...

As we age, we look at our former selves, and realize, really, how much we had yet to learn...

You can be smart at any age, but I would agree that,

KageKeeper wrote: That is part of the human experience. With age comes (usually) wisdom.

I know people my own age who act like children (by that I mean young people, sorry, Im old...), and children who act wise....

Being middle age, I see the folly of the youths younger than me, as well as a few who are chronologically older than me, but not mentally...

And as I keep company with a 75 year old guy occasionally, I see some of my own folly in his eyes when we speak...

Age is not a definite guarantee of wisdom....

Life has no guarantees...

Only some patterns which we observe...

This cartoon seems to speak to me differently, I see it as originally getting one view of the world from your parents, a view that as valid as it may be, is lacking other perspectives, then as you go out into the world you begin to see other views of the world, you see how differently the others around you think and act. Then as you mature you realize that your parents ideas are no longer your own, instead of simply regurgitating the ideas of your parents you begin to listen and accept that while you may have some things right others have knowledge and wisdom to add to your own. You take the accounts of others into your world and you add to yourself making you a better person. Then something strange happens, you stop adding more to yourself. This is the step of the cycle you want to avoid. The stage where you no longer see the necessity of adding to your wisdom and knowledge. Adults always think children think they know everything, but what they don't seem to see is that children are just eager to learn all that they can. They revel in the fact that there is knowledge out there to be attained that others out there don't know, and they are excited to share this knowledge. The issue is that children have a more difficult time understanding conflicting ideas and choosing between abstract concepts. So instead of blocking yourself off to one view of the world, always accept anothers opinion and hope to help others to grow in their knowledge and wisdom.

My 7 year old daughter is much wiser than me.

Not because of an accumulating amount of experience but rather the opposite.

Children seem to be willing to apply new knowledge more readily and without feeling a need to defend their previous misconceptions about the world. This to me is wisdom.