The wisdom of Solomon continues to delight me, and I just have to share this. Listen to this proverb…

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise. 

(Proverbs 12:15)

Over and over the central idea of Proverbs has been “wise people are wise because they listen to wise people; foolish people are fools because they don’t.” It’s not a matter of race, gender, or even age; it’s simply a matter of will. A fool is right in his own eyes because he only ever asks himself for advice, and personal bias is usually too strong to overcome.

On the other hand, those who listen to other people will be wise. That’s not to say the very first bit of advice you get is going to be better than what you were already thinking, but Solomon doesn’t intend for you to reach out to a single other person. A wise man will solicit the opinions of many. Eventually, a consensus will form (akin to the gaussian curve/the normal distribution model), the cream will rise to the top, and you’ll be armed with enough knowledge to make a well-informed decision.

Don’t take this to mean “the majority is always right;” Solomon isn’t saying that, either. What he’s saying is “the minority (you) isn’t always right, and if you only ever listen to the minority (you), you’ll end up wrong much more than you need to be.

I suppose I should also mention the fact that, in matters of holiness and righteousness, the people of God are regularly going to be outnumbered. If we solicited the advice of the world, we would certainly get a worldly consensus. Solomon’s advice is more about practical living. Then again, he also expects you to know how to filter opinions. Everyone that gives you advice is going to have some degree of bias guiding what they say (intentionally or not). Keep that in mind when you ask others for counsel. At the end of the day, all Solomon is saying (in less than 20 words, which has taken me over 10x as many to talk about) is that a fool will stay a fool if he never listens to wise people, and wise person will stay wise as long as he keeps listening to wise people.

~Matthew