From Knowledge to Wisdom

In this episode, Cydni and Sher set out on a “quest for wisdom”—complete with dragons, waffle cones, and the occasional hot stove. From Thomas Jefferson’s bold advice to ask hard questions, to Joseph Smith’s example of seeking truth, to the everyday lessons learned from skateboards, moms, and rocky roads (literal and metaphorical), this conversation weaves together history, scripture, and a lot of laughter. Wisdom isn’t just facts, it’s the way God shapes our understanding through curiosity, experience, and faith. This episode is, "Knowledge to Wisdom" and we are so glad you are here! 

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Take time this week to reflect on one question you’ve been hesitant to ask God—and bring it to Him with a sincere, curious heart.

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Show Notes

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Transcript

Episode 126 - Knowledge to Wisdom

Cydni: [00:00:00] You know what they say, Sher that knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit and wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad. Did you know that? That's very wise. I always loved that quote. I know it's probably overused, but I thought it was brilliant. But I did look it up on Reddit and it was really funny 'cause bunch of men were like, knowledge is knowing she doesn't want the tomato, she wants the cheeseburger. That's actually true. And then someone said, charm is knowing to put the tomato in salsa and selling it. Wait, that's not right. I feel like this quote sums it up perfectly. The only true wisdom is knowing, you know, nothing, Why are we so wise? 'cause we know, we know nothing. And on that note, welcome to our podcast about wisdom. This is Cydni and Sher. 

Sher: As you've already said, Cydni, our podcast today, we are going to go on a quest for wisdom. So what do you have for us? 

Cydni: Yeah, jordan Peterson talked about a quest for wisdom as [00:01:00] in a question, and then I thought. So many things, and let me try to make this make sense. One, everything important begins with a question. We have to be curious and immediately I thought of Joseph Smith, who started everything with a question of which church to join. I think that's really important to consider

Sher: I like that. The first thing I thought of was Thomas Jefferson. I don't know what that says about me, but thomas Jefferson said question with boldness, even the existence of God, because if there be one he must more approve of honest reasoning than that of blindfolded fear. Thomas Jefferson is encouraging us, that God wants us to ask tough questions to Him He's God and he can't lie and he's gonna tell us the truth. If He exists, he's gonna let us know.

Cydni: I love that you're going the direction of asking questions because somewhere along the line of my life, I felt like we have to be careful about what questions we ask, and that is not true.

And Our [00:02:00] foundation of our faith comes from the beginning of a question. So clearly we do care about asking God a question. I would say it's more of how do we ask a question? What is our approach and where's our heart at when we're asking a question? I listen to a talk by Emily Bell Freeman, she went to a Holocaust museum with her sisters. When they walked through it, she said there was just a deafening silence and that the silence followed them out of the museum.

 And when they were standing there, one of her sisters said. I have made a decision. I do not believe in God anymore. And Emily says, I felt I understood why she would say that because what kind of God would allow these things to happen? She also found herself asking, is God good? Can I trust him?

And I thought of times in my life where I have allowed myself to say, is God there? And the answer is, yes, I am. And that might just change your entire life. [00:03:00] So are we okay to ask questions? Are we okay to go on a quest for knowledge? Absolutely. And when I think of Quest, I think of obviously Lord of the Rings, they're gonna go slay some dragons which is not the same as setting out a picnic. If we go on a quest for wisdom or look at people who. Have found wisdom. They have gone through soul stretching experiences. so I find it unsurprising that when I search up wisdom and gaining wisdom outside of a lot of wisdom teeth articles, nonstop. Do you wanna know what my algorithm is? It's like dentist around here who wisdom teeth. but the second thing that I found over and over was getting through difficult times. So I searched up gaining wisdom and the article would say how to get through difficult times. Therefore, I've come to the conclusion that if we absolutely want to gain knowledge, wisdom, we have to go through difficult times. And the quest that we are going on requires us to turn to God for [00:04:00] godly understanding and godly wisdom. 

Sher: I just wanna go back to something that you mentioned before about there are horrible atrocities in this world, and I heard as a history teacher my students said over and over again you know, like the Holocaust happened. Therefore, I know there isn't a God because God wouldn't allow that to happen. But what it has done for me in my life is it's given me more proof that there is a God, because God has promised us agency and he believes that so much that he will allow his children to do terrible and horrible things to his children and through all of it, this is the amazing part.

Through all the atrocities there has always been some sort of a light that has grown and grown and grown. When I say that, I mean the light of Christ that has grown through whatever their atrocity may be to overcome the wicked and the evil and the horrible. That is what you see over and over again. Do bad things happen? Yes, but that light of [00:05:00] Christ is always victorious. That's one of the reasons why I love history. 

Cydni: I agree though it's difficult to actually wrap your mind around that, but it is true, I do believe it as truth. I also found over and over the idea that if you want wisdom, you have to be curious In the setting that people who are curious, they listen without judgment and engage in the question. Sometimes we think we're curious, but maybe it's to let someone else stumble over their own beliefs, or maybe it's to prove your point in a sneaky way. But if you are genuinely curious about something and you go with an open heart, no judgment to find an answer, that's what's going to shape you and allow your perspective to possibly even change and grow.

Sher: I love that word, curious as a teacher, that just made me so happy. Yes. Be curious, ask questions. I love it. 

Cydni: I love it too. And then I was thinking how many things have happened because someone has been curious, did you know that the [00:06:00] pacemaker and the x-ray machine were made by mistake? Somebody was trying to make something else. And it didn't work out. But instead of saying, well, that was a disaster, they were curious about what did happen and they explored and asked questions and because of that, we still use the pacemaker and the x-ray today. Also super glue. It was supposed to be a wall paper cleaner. 

Sher: Oh, that didn't work out so well. It 

Cydni: didn't work out at all. But in our home, we use super glue all the time because I don't know how to sew. So we just super glue those trousers right up. And then I loved that potato chips. This one was funny to me. It was made by a man named Chef Crumb, which is convenient. That is convenient. His customers were very unsatisfied with the crispiness Of the french fries, and so he kind of a little bit in spite. Was like, well, I'll show you. And he cut them thinner and he cooked them longer and people went crazy for it. I just loved it. But my favorite was the ice cream cone, [00:07:00] because what happened at a state fair in St. Louis the ice cream was so popular that they ran outta cups, but there was a man, earnest Hanway next door with his Persian waffles who was like, you know.

Let's just be curious here with this waffle that I have. What if I roll it up? And he did. He rolled it up and they served the ice cream in the waffle and the most important invention of our day. The waffle cone. The waffle cone exists today because somebody had a problem. They were curious about it. They were open-minded about it. They explored it. 

Sher: And this is how we know there is a God waffle cones, 

Cydni: which is the whole intention of this episode. We just wanted you to think about ice cream cones, and that would take away all the pain and suffering because yes, there's pain, but there's also double scoops. There's cookie dough, there's chocolate mint, there's Rocky Road, is our quest. Rocky? Yes. but can you have two or three scoops of Rocky Road or a whole tub? 

Sher: [00:08:00] You can have the tub. 

Cydni: Honestly, our family's had a rough week, but someone in our family has had the worst week because I went downstairs and there was a whole tub of ice cream empty. I don't know who did that.

Anyway, I feel really sick to my stomach today. Dairy does not so well. but seriously our intention today with our quest is to understand one, that it's messy, but also wisdom is a godly attribute that we can seek. It's just gonna be a rocky road to get there.

Sher: So just really quickly, Cydni, maybe we should go over some definitions so we understand what we're talking about today. So knowledge is facts, information skills learned from reading or studying or experience. An example Is you read that a stove is hot. Understanding is the comprehension of that knowledge and a deeper awareness so that you comprehend what the words you're reading actually mean, you understand that touching the stove will cause a burn, and you can explain why it's [00:09:00] dangerous to touch the stove and predict the consequences of what will happen if you touch the stove.

Wisdom is application of that knowledge, it's application of knowledge plus understanding. This is done through experience and moral reflection. So an example is maybe you've touched the stove or you're around somebody who touched a stove and you burned your hand and you now know not to touch the stove again, and you can explain why you shouldn't touch the stove. You can explain why you should be careful, but you also know the good things that a stove can do and the purpose of it, you can actually do more than boil water on the stove. 

Cydni: Wait, what? What is this about?

Sher: That was like a softball I just threw to you right there.

Cydni: But can you ever remember that you're boiling, boiling water? That's the question. You know, like when you boil water and then it's gone? And you're like, Hey guys, this is a science lesson now, right? I'd like to teach you. That's Not about cooking. But Evaporation. That's what you do at your home. I mean, I was speaking from experience a little bit. Tune into our cooking class, [00:10:00] 

Sher: but wisdom teaching, evaporation lessons or not to touch the stove or what have you. Having wisdom allows us to bless our lives and the lives of others.

Cydni: Okay. But if we're honest, the wisdom situation and helping others in the house, since we're talking about kids would be like, Hey guys, don't touch that hot stove. And they will be like, what do you know about hot stoves? And then they're gonna learn by themself anyway. 

Sher: That's usually how it works. I can't disagree with that. That is usually what happens, not just to your kids, but to all of us. But how we can get that moral judgment piece of wisdom. This is done through the Holy Spirit in the doctrine in Covenants section 84 45 46, it says.

For the word of the Lord is truth, and whatsoever is truth is light, and whatsoever is light, is spirit. Even the spirit of Jesus Christ and the spirit giveth light to every man that cometh into the world and the spirit enlighten it. Every man through the world that harken it through [00:11:00] the voice of the spirit.

So what we can learn from this is having the spirit is what will help us combine the application of knowledge, understanding with correct moral principles so that we can gain and share our wisdom. I've used this example before, I believe, but this is one of the problems with self-driving cars is they don't have that wisdom or the moral judgment that goes along with it. If you're driving down the street and a little kid runs out in front of you, you don't have time to break. You're gonna swerve and if you swerve, let's say there's a tree off to the right, there's a car coming at you to the left, you're gonna swerve probably towards the tree to protect the kid and the person coming towards you.

But a self-driving car is programmed to protect the driver. So the best option is to run over the kid. Oh my gosh. Not hit the car. Not hit the tree, run over the kid, because that will protect the driver the most self-driving cars do not have wisdom. They just have knowledge protect the person in the car.

Cydni: That [00:12:00] application's so dark, but I understood it. 

Sher: This is where our morals combined with that wisdom comes in, is on our quest for wisdom. The most important piece to include is God, so we can have His Spirit with us so that we can make those moral judgements. And this is how we gain wisdom and truth and understanding and knowledge and all of these things, help us to have discernment, and this is the ability to perceive, understand, and judge things clearly and wisely, especially distinguishing between truth.

Error and right and wrong or good and bad. That is the power of discernment, and that is what wisdom can bring to us, is that we will be able to have that discernment power and be able to make. Clear and moral decisions. Cydni, I wanna read a quote to you. And I want you to guess who said it.

Okay. Okay. I'm in. You ready? Yes. Okay. It's kind of long, so buckle in. All right. I'll pay attention. Okay, here we go. Knowledge is the collection of facts, information, and [00:13:00] skills we gain through reading, study, or experience. It's what we know in our minds, like learning from a book or being told the stove is hot.

Wisdom on the other hand, is the deeper application of that knowledge and understanding. It is shaped by experience, trial, and even mistakes, and it guides us to make the best possible decisions with a moral compass in mind. Wisdom takes what we've learned, filters it through lived experience, and turns it into insight that can bless our own lives and the lives of others. Do you know who said that? 

Cydni: Theodore Roosevelt. 

Sher: Yes. You got it. Did I really? No. Oh, do you know who said it? No. You. Oh my gosh. It was at a previous episode. That was a quote from you, Cydni. And Let me tell you why I really liked it and why I'm reading it to embarrass you. 

Cydni: Not embarrassed. Face is red hot in here that stage of hot flashes, I think perimenopause, whatever, blah, blah, blah, blah, whatever.

Sher: The reason I really [00:14:00] like that quote from you, Cydni, is that wisdom can be used to bless our lives and others. I love that. And as I was reading that quote, I thought of my students that I've had over the years, and some do not have knowledge or understanding. They refuse to get it. They won't listen when anyone explains that the choices that they're currently making are gonna lead to very bad stuff happening in their life.

for example, if you keep stealing cars, you're eventually gonna go to jail. Or if you hang out with the homies, the next drive by, might actually impact you. I was Gonna go on a big, long thing about my students, but then I thought, how many times has God said this to me?

How many times has God said, you know, if you're not praying, it's gonna make it a lot more difficult to figure out big decisions. . Or if you're not reading your scriptures, you're not going to understand the gospel as well. Or if you're not taking the Sacrament seriously, you'll have a more difficult time filling the spirit and staying close to the Savior I need to just point the finger at me. God is doing the same thing. He's saying, I [00:15:00] want to give you that wisdom, that truth, that understanding. I'm here, ask the questions, bring it towards me. Let's work it out together. , He has all this advice and wisdom for us. The question is, what are we doing with it? Are we applying it or not? 

Cydni: I did notice while studying and reading other people's quotes. And now my own that. I'm just getting that one. I just said it again. It had nothing to do with what I'm going to say. Just wanted to bring it up again. I'm gonna make this worse than Paris, just so you know.

Sher: Oh my. Why did I do that? 

Cydni: Feed the ego. Watch what happens. I did notice how often this idea that you have to be uncomfortable to gain wisdom. And obviously I'm going to think of King Solomon because he's known as the Wise King Solomon. As a young teen. I remember when they would talk about King Solomon that he was given an opportunity to gain anything he wanted. And you know what he asked for? A

Sher: new car. 

Cydni: Try again. Sorry. A new chariot. A new chariot? Nope. No, it wasn't it. But I liked your [00:16:00] enthusiasm. So he asked for wisdom, and this is something that I wrestle with in my heart because I have this desire to say the right thing, and I feel like that's the right answer. I feel like if you're a godly person and God's like you could have anything. Total trick question. 'cause he knows what I'm thinking.

I'm like, I just want to eat whatever I want and have a six pack. But I know you're not supposed to say that. I know you're supposed to say something like, oh God, wisdom and mean it. And I've always really wrestled with this idea because I don't think I'm there Not genuinely are you. , 

Sher: No, but he knows what we're gonna say. We're gonna say something stupid. And so that's why he is not gonna give us that opportunity. Probably Becausecause. He loves us. He loves us. 

Cydni: So he is not gonna ask that kind of thing. No, he's only gonna ask that we go on a quest. Right. And tumble a little bit 

Sher: and try to get to the point where he can ask us i'll give you anything you want. we're not there yet. Cydni. We're working on it. 

Cydni: I'll tell you what he does ask. From a story by Michelle Craig at A BYU [00:17:00] Women's Conference. The story might have potentially impacted my life forever. she Shares a story about this woman who goes through a very devastating few years that her husband of 20 years decides to no longer believe in God, and so she has to take the children by herself to church and. In all of this, she found out she was pregnant with her fifth child and their marriage was falling apart and his faith had fallen apart and she was just barely holding on as it was.

She talks about how devastating everything was, and it did not stop that. It kept being devastating and terrible things kept happening, even though she committed to her faith stronger than ever, while people she was hoping to partner with decided to go a different route, and she said she was sitting in the temple. And she was very uncomfortable because it was a high risk pregnancy and she had to carry around special equipment to help ensure she and the baby were safe. She was sitting there in an over-packed session at the temple when they set up [00:18:00] even more chairs for other people to come in and join.

And in this, there was this sister with a special need who had a partner to help her get through the temple session together. She overheard the special needs sister say, this chair's so uncomfortable. I can't sit here anymore. And she knew what was coming. The other sister leaned over and said, would you please mind switching chairs with this other sister?

And This woman was six months pregnant and carrying medical equipment, and she did not want to, and she knew what she needed to say, and she knew what she needed to do. She said, of course, and she said that sister was not lying. It was the most uncomfortable chair she had ever sat in in her entire life. And she said that she had tears rolling down her face and she found herself going to God with a question and it was. How am I supposed to keep going? How am I supposed to keep doing this when you keep giving me such difficult things to try and face and I keep trying to face them, and you keep giving me more, how am I supposed to continue? [00:19:00] And she heard the answer and it was simply, I need you to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

I love this because when I think of, Eve, who has been on my mind a lot recently as I've been studying and from the same talk she quotes the prophet who says, we must have the courage and the vision of our Mother Eve. I see these women completely different now.

I like to joke around that, you know, like if you put food in front of a woman, then yeah, she's going to eat it. What do you expect? My perspective has slightly changed to the absolute courage that Eve had to do what she did.

Satan tempted her with wisdom. And she says, I will do this to be wise. I believe she understood that the good was going to be balanced out with that bad. That it was not going to be an easy picnic. It was going to be a dragon saying quest, and we know that's true because her first born and her second born went through what no parent wants to go through. , So between the idea of King Solomon and the [00:20:00] idea here of Eve, who would. Number one, put wisdom first. I feel like it's something I probably should dive into more and understand exactly what it is. The currency of wisdom. 

Sher: I'm glad you used the word currency, because in this life I feel like. At least I am gathering stuff all the time. I'm trying to gather or collect currency or things, or junk or stuff, in Proverbs chapter four, verse seven, it says, wisdom is the principle thing. Therefore get wisdom and with all thy getting, get understanding.

And I think that sums it up. Wisdom is the principle thing. And like our mother Eve, she did learn from her mistakes and she had knowledge and she gained wisdom and she taught us it is a choice. Are you gonna learn or not?

Cydni: I will say that Ben has a belief with Adam and Eve that if it was left to Adam, that. , everyone would still be in the garden that it never would've gotten done that he was quite content. And so I think [00:21:00] what he's saying obviously is that sometimes it just takes a woman to get things done. And I appreciate Ben said that. 

Sher: Good job, Ben. That was good. 

Cydni: Thanks for saying something non-verbally that I understood that you really believe in the power of a woman. That if there's going to be a quest, a woman must be involved. 

Sher: I agree. I absolutely agree. You agree with Ben? I agree with you. Oh, Ben said it. I'm sorry. Yeah. Yeah. I agree with Ben. Duh. So I thought of a few examples when I was thinking about, gaining wisdom is a choice. And these examples of my students, you know, popped into my head, but then I was like, really just focus on you. And I just wanna say a couple of things that I learned in my life. Okay. My mother always told me, so my bedroom was on one side of the house, and we would always use the back door, which was on the opposite side of the house. And for a while, I got into skateboarding and I would always go running outta my bedroom, throw my skateboard down, and skateboard across the house and then to [00:22:00] the back door. And it drove my mom crazy. And she would always say, stop skateboarding in the house. You're gonna break something. So of course one day I, went running through the house and my mom had this really nice mirror in the hallway and I fell off the skateboard and the skateboard just zipped away from me and crashed into this mirror and broke it. And I don't know how I'm still alive today, but my mom knew what was gonna happen eventually. I also thought of another one, Cydni. And this one's really embarrassing I was probably like in ninth grade, eighth through ninth grade. I don't remember where we were, but wherever it was, I didn't wanna be there. And it was somewhere like my mom and dad had made me go, and I was just determined to have a bad attitude. And I remember my mom saying something to me about smiling because it will just ease the tension and make everybody feel more comfortable. Like she gave me this whole lecture about. Just smile and you'll get that back, right? And I refuse to smile. But it wasn't just at that event, Cydni, [00:23:00] it was for like the next year when we'd go anywhere.

I would not smile. I refused. That is dedication. I think it was at least a year. I mean, I wasn't necessarily grumpy, but I wouldn't smile. Isn't that ridiculous? I mean, a lady is supposed to smile Cher.

No, and I think it's so ridiculous because that's so not my personality. That's how determined I was to prove my mom wrong. But I think about this. What did that gain me a little bit of perseverance, honestly. Yeah, But that was it. Other than that, it didn't help anybody or anything. It certainly didn't help me.

Cydni: Your two stories have illustrated greatly how your mother's quest for knowledge came in the form of a Sher for a daughter.

Sher: I know my poor mom, I'm so sorry, but . On our quest for wisdom, we should learn from scriptures and history and people that have had experiences like my mom to help us gain that wisdom.

And it is important to listen to your elders and your parents, and your grandparents and your mentors. People that really [00:24:00] do have wisdom, we can learn from them. And if we study people that went before us, we don't need to make the same stupid mistakes, but we probably will. Yeah, we probably will. So examples though of listening to your parents and wisdom? One of the things that my mom always said is use some elbow grease. And when I was little, I was always like, what is this elbow grease and how do I get some and I didn't really understand it, and I was perplexed Cydni. But as I got older. I finally started to understand what this elbow grease was. Some things you just can't take the easy way out and you just need to work hard. You just gotta scrub a little harder, you gotta try a little bit more or else that dirt is never gonna get out of there. So on our journey. We have all this enormous amounts of information at our fingertips, but sometimes we just have to use a little bit of elbow grease and get in there and learn for ourselves, and trust in God [00:25:00] and know that if we just keep going, eventually we're going to gain that wisdom. 

Cydni: Recently, I've really reflected on the fact that no matter how much pain and disappointment and challenges and trial we receive in this life. God has a greater gift of wisdom to give us that we can turn around just like in the hero's journey and help the people behind us, which brings us to our challenge to make a decision to go on your own quest for wisdom, and that may include going to God with a sincere and curious heart and asking a question that you need an answer to. 

Sher: This brings us to our final thoughts. Our quest for wisdom isn't about collecting every fact like we're just cramming for trivia night. It's about letting knowledge, experience, and God's spirit shape us into people who make better choices. Sometimes that means learning from history or scriptures. Sometimes it means learning from grandma, and sometimes it just means learning not to ride a skateboard through the kitchen. Either [00:26:00] way, the goal is the same. Keep moving forward, and don't be afraid to use that elbow grease. This is our prayer from Cydni and Sher. but I feel I need to stop saying I feel 'cause I'm such a woman and I'm just like always feeling and I'm living my life following my feelings, you know? Wow. I had 

a lot of feelings today. 

Cydni: And the quest. It is difficult. It's stupid. And so what are we gaining from all of this? Our quest does, wait, our quest doesn't make sense as usual. Sher. Okay. What did I just last say? It was ice cream. Cream ice. Ice cream. Okay. 

Sher: You dairy. You can do whatever you want.

Cydni: Thank you. I'm just gonna stretch out my foot 'cause it hurts. I was gonna ask what you're doing. It was like a [00:27:00] dance. Come on, get it together. Was that good? Was that a good like intro to a hook to have you listen? . What you probably really mean that. She had tears rolling down her face and said. Oh, what did she say? I'm so, and then, okay. You just dropped it. Okay. I'm really good at storytelling,

Sher: yeah. Where I was thinking about punch the mic. I just lost it. My mind went elsewhere. It's for real. My brain just stopped working. It did. Mm-hmm.

Cydni: That's the sign that we're done. Yeah. 

Sher: Have a good week. Bye.