Solomon’s Paradox - when wisdom fails

This paradox begins with the classic story of two women with one child, brought before King Solomon, each claiming to be the mother. Solomon suggested the solution of dividing the child in half and giving each one half. To this, the first woman agreed, and the second woman said to give the child to the other. Just let him live. Wisely, Solomon gave the child to the second woman. The paradox arises in his own life, wherein he amassed more wealth than he could use and failed to raise his son to be a capable ruler, the consequence of which was that his kingdom fell into chaos and was fractured. This is the paradox.

When Solomon was reflective and dispassionate, his wisdom became apparent, but in dealing with his personal and emotional matters, he failed. The contrast is in the second case, where he was self-immersed, while in the first case, where he was self-distanced and able to judge wisely. An ability to reason more rationally about others’ problems than one’s own is known in psychology as Solomon’s Paradox.

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