We are capable of perceiving a many-dimensional world, of feeling deeply about it, of relating to one another and to other species in a large variety of ways. We are also capable of analyzing our experiences and thoughts, and of bringing unlikely aspects of our awareness into imaginative new combinations. Apparently, we are well designed for wholeness and equipped for wisdom. One reason may be that we spend so much of our lives merely being clever, and cleverness and wisdom do not mix well. Dividing our knowledge into specialized categories that are easy to manage is clever.
Cleverness also is evident in our tools and technology.
We cleverly develop our egos at high cost to the natural systems around us. A large portion of each of our lives is spent perfecting our identities and leaving monuments to prove that we lived here. We take little time for reflecting on the context of our lives, and even less time trying to understand how the world works. Another reason is that we have created domesticated and urban environments that lack the species diversity and multiple relationships of natural wilderness. Humanized environments are the only ones most people know.