The Answer Is Wisdom.

Today’s Marketing Cookie is about the challenge of making sense of seemingly puzzling messages and how wisdom helps us find clarity in a world full of information.

My job, as you know, is to write a marketing blog based on whatever is inside other people’s fortune cookies. When there's a typo or cryptic message like this, I have to make sense of it or try to guess what the fortune is attempting to say. So, let’s unravel this together.

At first glance, this fortune seems to suggest that wisdom is contained in everything around us. But is it? Can a common item like a paperclip actually embody wisdom? I guess you could say that paperclips really know how to hold things together, so that’s smart, but is there wisdom living in the paperclip? Could we argue that knowing how to use a paperclip is wisdom? Maybe. But isn’t it more likely that wisdom comes from experience and reflection rather than being inherently embedded in everything?

Hmmmm. Okay, let’s consider another angle. Instead of wisdom being hidden inside everything, what if wisdom itself acts as a universal container that holds everything? Think of it like a large storage unit where you keep all the information you’ve ever learned. Then, wisdom helps you organize this knowledge and experiences into a complete picture of the world. It’s like having a guide that helps you navigate through your storage unit, making sense of everything you know and using it in a meaningful way.

However, that’s not quite what the fortune says either. What if “contain it everything” is actually pointing to "IT" or Information Technology as the true container of everything today, with wisdom being the key? While IT encompasses all aspects of modern life, it’s your ability to interpret and apply this information that truly brings meaning and clarity in an AI-driven world.

We’ve explored how the fortune might suggest wisdom is hidden in everything, or that wisdom is a giant container that everything is in. Then there’s the idea that Information Technology holds everything that is known in today’s world, but wisdom is how we make sense of it all. Whichever interpretation you like best, there’s no denying that it’s our personal insight that can transform a cryptic message like today’s fortune into something valuable, even as it tries to say, “Q. What is contain it everything? A. Wisdom”