Promises, promises, promises. I find myself
turning out the promises some people make. Do you tune some people out? Why is
that?
As Wisdom was given the opportunity to
speak, so folly tells us about herself. She is compared to an unruly woman.
This woman is stupid, at the bottom of the gene pool, a few bricks short of a
full load, the elevator doesn’t travel to the top floor. This is not
intelligence, but the application of wisdom. She doesn’t learn from her
mistakes.
Just like wisdom, folly wants followers. It
has something to offer those who pay it a visit. Notice that it doesn’t want
anyone with wisdom visiting. That is because wise people would just ignore
folly’s invitation. That is a pretty good marketing campaign. It is targeted
and focused. Wisdom called out to everyone in that hopes that even some of the
simple would come.
Folly’s promises are obviously false, but
people still respond. Stolen water is just water. It doesn’t magically become
better in the process of being stolen. The same holds true to a meal secretly
eaten. In fact, I don’t even like eating secretly. I want other people around
so that I can have conversation.
But just like most marketing campaigns,
there is a dark side that isn’t shown. Wheels fall off, toys that break,
poisonous ingredients, rat meat, higher taxes, fewer options, building code
violations, hidden beliefs. But in this case the promised sweet water and
delicious food is served with dead people at the table. I don’t care how good
the food is, if there are dead people at the table, no thanks.
But a fool never bothers to scratch beyond
the surface. They take what is offered at face value, without questioning even
obvious errors. They swallow whole the lies that are given, and then they will
defend those lies against attack.
Folly can’t admit wrong. But wisdom had the
ability to do just that. Wisdom knows when a mistake has been made and turns
around. Folly continues on the same course, even if that course goes off a
cliff.