More Facts, Less Sense: Why Wisdom Outlasts Knowledge📖🧙‍♂️🧠

Published: Thu, 09/04/25

Updated: Thu, 09/04/25

Knowledge without wisdom is like water in the sand.

– African Proverb

I was at a swanky networking event in London recently when I found myself in conversation with an entrepreneur in the preventative health space. We talked about her challenges, her vision, and the future she wanted to build. She was smart, informed, and passionate. Then, almost reluctantly, she asked what I did.

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An abundance of knowledge does not make men wise.

“I’m an author,” I said.

She smiled, straight-faced, and asked: “Do people still read?”

Duh!

And there it was. Knowledge without wisdom.

Because if she had paused for half a second, she might have realised the question itself was proof of the very problem we live with today: we know more than ever, but understand less.

👗 Afrofuturist Fashion Design Challenge: Style the Future 👟

Where tradition meets technology. Where fabric becomes future.

Africa has always been a hub of bold design, color, and symbolism. From Kente to Shweshwe, Ankara to Maasai beadwork, fashion has told stories of lineage, culture, and power.

But what happens when solar textiles replace silk? When 3D-printed headdresses store ancestral memories? When clothing itself becomes interactive, intelligent, and alive?

🎯 In this challenge, you are invited to reimagine African fashion in the year 2125—through artwork, design, or storytelling.

✨ How to Enter:

Choose one or combine both formats below:

🎨 Visual Submission:
Submit a sketch, digital artwork, or AI-generated image of a futuristic African outfit. Your design should:

Blend traditional African styles (cuts, symbols, fabrics) with sci-fi or high-tech elements.

Consider functionality: What does the outfit do in the future? Is it adaptive, climate-smart, healing?

📝 Fashion Concept Description (Max 400 words):
Write a piece that explains:

The cultural roots of your design

The materials and technology used

How this fashion fits into a futuristic African society (e.g. ritual wear, urban streetwear, spacefaring regalia)

🧵 Inspiration Sparks:

*A Fulani cloak that shifts colors based on emotion

*Beadwork that functions as wearable data storage

*Gele that projects ancestral holograms

*Sand-proof desert gear powered by solar embroidery

*Rain-responsive mudcloth that cools or heats the body

🏆 Judging Criteria:

Afrofuturist Fusion: Does it blend traditional culture with forward-thinking tech?

Creativity & Concept Depth: Is it original, well-thought-out, and meaningful?

Visual or Descriptive Impact: Whether it's an image or a write-up, is it striking and memorable?

Storytelling Power: How well does the design reflect its wearer and their world?

🎁 Prizes:

🥇 First Place: $50 gift card + full feature in our newsletter + pro image mockup of your design

🥈 Second Place: $25 gift card + feature

🥉 Third Place: $10 gift card + honourable mention

📬 How to Submit:

Send your entry to marksmanstudios1@gmail.com
Subject line: "Afrofuturist Fashion Design Submission"
Attach your image and/or paste your write-up into the email.

📅 Deadline: 14th September 2025

👘 The future wears your imagination. What will Africa look like when tradition upgrades its wardrobe?

Isaac Asimov warned us decades ago: “The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.” That reality is even sharper now. We know more about AI than we know about living peacefully with our neighbours. We can create digital worlds, but we still can’t manage our tempers at the dinner table. That gap between what we know and what we live is where life quietly breaks down.

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The safe hoard of knowledge

Knowledge feels safe. It’s a collection like coins in a jar. Books read, courses taken, facts memorised, buzzwords learned. You can stack it on your CV, put it on your LinkedIn profile, and feel like you’re moving forward.

But wisdom? Wisdom is not a neat collection. It’s a scar. It’s knowing patience after you’ve lost your temper and paid for it. It’s learning the value of time after wasting years on what didn’t matter. It’s understanding money only after you’ve blown through your savings.

Knowledge can tell you how. Wisdom tells you when—and sometimes if—at all.

Wisdom is a slippery rope

The uncomfortable truth is that wisdom is a slow process. Painfully slow. It doesn’t come from crash courses, YouTube clips, or motivational posts. It comes from failure, reflection, and humility. From living long enough to notice that the patterns repeat—and having the courage to admit that half the time, you are part of the problem.

I’ve met people with PhDs who struggle to maintain a friendship. I’ve met Jamaican farmers who could teach you more about resilience and patience than any business school professor. Knowledge fills the room with light. Wisdom knows which door to walk through.

As a speculative fiction author, I create worlds filled with strange futures and alternate realities. But here’s the secret: stories only matter if they carry wisdom, not just knowledge. Readers don’t care about a list of facts or clever worldbuilding. They care about what the characters learn when everything falls apart—because that’s what we’re all trying to figure out in real life.

The transformation that matters

Most people don’t actually want wisdom. They want validation. They want their knowledge to be enough so they never have to change. Wisdom threatens that. It whispers, “You might be wrong. Try again.”

But here’s the thing: wisdom transforms. Knowledge informs your head. Wisdom rewires your heart. Knowledge helps you win arguments. Wisdom enables you to live better. Knowledge gives you power. Wisdom teaches you not to flex it every time.

The wisest people I know don’t ask, “How do I prove I’m right?” They ask, “What am I missing?”

That’s the real work.

The invitation

So yes—read the books, take the courses, learn the skills. Knowledge matters. But don’t stop there. Don’t hide behind facts the way a child hides under a blanket.

Because nobody ever built a life out of a pile of unused knowledge.

Wisdom is earned. It’s messy. It makes you admit regret. It asks you to reflect on the scar, not just the theory. But it’s the only thing that transforms how you live.

Knowledge informs. Wisdom transforms. And the day you accept that difference, life shifts for the better.

Peace, love and power.