14:6 - The scoffer seeks wisdom yet there is none

בִּקֶּשׁ-לֵץ חָכְמָה וָאָיִן; וְדַעַת לְנָבוֹן נָקָל

"The scoffer seeks wisdom yet there is none, but wisdom will come easily to the understanding one." (Mishlei 14:6)

Questions:

1. What is a scoffer?

2. How can wisdom just disappear when the scoffer seeks it?

3. What is an understanding one?

4. Why will wisdom come easily to the understanding one and why doesn't it disappear for him?

Idea:

1. What is a scoffer? One who puts people and things down. He does this because he has a fantastical view of himself that is not supported by the evidence he finds in his interaction with the world. The process is as follows. He looks at the world and sees that there are people and things that are greater than him. He then has two options. The first is to improve himself. The second is to denounce everything else. He chooses the second and this is his mistake for denouncing everything else changes his relative status only in his fantastical view of the world and not the world itself.

2. How can wisdom just disappear when the scoffer seeks it? In the eyes of the scoffer there is no wisdom for he denounces any wisdom he comes across as it represents a challenge to his supremacy.

3. What is an understanding one? An understanding one is one who accepts as true that which he sees in the world even if it means he is not supreme.

4. Why will wisdom come easily to the understanding one and why doesn't it disappear for him? When the understanding one seeks wisdom it is a simple matter of looking at himself, determining that he lacks wisdom, looking at the world, identifying a source of wisdom, and then going to it. Whereas the scoffer is unable to find wisdom as he denounces it all, the understanding one creates no artificial barriers for himself and is thus able to seek and obtain wisdom like a hungry driver looking for food and seeing a fifty-foot-tall McDonald's sign.

One practical application:

I often find myself choosing not to pay attention to what people have to say if I don't like them. According to the pasuk this is nonsensical. My opinion of the person and the potential to learn from the person are unrelated. In my not liking the person I denounce the person in my mind, faking myself out into thinking that the person has nothing to offer me. What I should do is set my dislike aside, learn what I can, and only then go back to disliking the person.