To do evil is like sport to a fool,
But a man of understanding has wisdom.
The fear of the wicked will come upon him,
And the desire of the righteous will be granted.
When the whirlwind passes by, the wicked is no more,
But the righteous has an everlasting foundation.
Proverbs 10:23-25 (NKJV).
If you've been keeping track of the themes which resonate with me, you know how this passage is going to go. There's a dead horse and I am going to beat it yet again.
Nobody looks wise until after consequences have landed. When the cards haven't been shown, when the dice haven't stopped, when the smoke hasn't cleared, when the dust hasn't settled, when the outcomes have not yet fully matured, there is a time of question, uncertainty. There is an excitement in that uncertainty, in taking a risk and not knowing what will come of your choice.
The problem is that not every choice in life is like this, unless you're a fool.
There are choices which have entirely predictable outcomes.
There are causes which produce the same effect every single time.
All modern technology is based on this being true. Every political system is based on this being true. Every piece of advice, every instruction, every word of warning, every caution, relies on this being true.
It's woven into the very fabric of our existence that there is a reason things happen, and that when we don't know why, that does not mean there is no reason, we just don't know what it is or how to define it.
Solomon discusses the ultimate fates of the wise and the fool so regularly and so frequently because even knowing what will come next, fools will make the same bad choice.
She knows he is bad for her but maybe this time it will be different.
He knows she doesn't respect him, but maybe the sacrifices he makes for her will change her mind.
We see the dynamics of wisdom and foolishness play out in relationships between people all the time. Choices are made not on what is going to be the inevitable result, based on what happened last time, but what we want to happen. We keep thinking that if we try again, maybe this time the odds will be in our favor.
That's our own stupidity on display, and nothing more. It's not about being a "dreamer" or an "ideologue", it's about denying reality in favor of fantasy, and then having the gall to be surprised when our fantasies do not manifest. We don't understand how or why they could, so we'll never learn whether they're even possible.
In this passage, Solomon is highlighting this for us yet again. Fools will view their rejection of wisdom like some sort of game, as if the consequences don't matter, as if all scars heal and go away, as if their ultimate fate is more random chance than anything else, so why not do what you're told not to do and see what happens for yourself?
The problem is that life is not pure chance. Humans behave in patterns, there's reasons why things happen and we can learn about them and adjust our behavior accordingly. This applies from the mundane, like the connection between brushing one's teeth and dental health, to the more intimate, like the consequences on our relationship future based on the attributes our mate possesses.
There are some aspects of life which are randomized, which do not have a clear outcome, but we do not exist in a binary where all outcomes are either all predetermined or all outcomes are random.
There's a mix, but fools act as if their choices don't matter, and then go one step further and turn the rejection of wisdom into sport.
Sometimes the choices we make won't have consequences which come to pass for many years, if not decades. Medical issues are a great demonstration of this, where past choices affect a future that is a very long ways away, or at least we hope.
We eat wrong, thinking that because the bad consequences aren't immediate, maybe they'll never show up at all. We ingest poisons, we do not exercise, we do not take care of our bodies, and by the time we've figured out how foolish we've been? It's often too late to change the path significantly because consequences have already started landing and permanently changing huge chunks of our lives at the same time.
But we invite that upon ourselves through our ignorant arrogance, our foolishness.
This is why Solomon, and in turn I, will keep beating this dead horse, why we'll keep trying to emphasize the value in wisdom in the present so that you can live it out and reap the rewards in due time, instead of only being able to appreciate what wisdom could have done for you, and only reap destruction.
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