Relevance realization is becoming an increasingly popular topic within cognitive psychology. It refers to the ongoing process by which we sift and sort aspects of our experience to navigate the challenges of everyday life.
Jaeger et al. describe the process of relevance realization as follows:
“Before they can ‘infer’ anything, living beings must first turn ill-defined problems into well-defined ones, transform large worlds into small, translate intangible semantics into formalized syntax (defined as rule-based processing of symbols free of contingent, vague, and ambiguous external referents). And they must do this incessantly: it is a defining feature of their mode of existence.”
In essence, relevance realization is one way of knowing in the world. It is the process by which we identify and pursue meaningful goals in a world marked by disorder, distraction, and competing goods—a world Christians recognize as both fallen and complex. The complexity of the world often means that we must make certain trade-offs. Yet, those trade-offs are not unguided but shaped by our unwillingness to compromise our convictions. They are shaped by our desire to be loyal to God.
So, how does relevance realization inform Christian living? How might it help us live an unbalanced life—a life characterized by an unqualified allegiance to God? First, the field of relevance realization addresses wisdom. By approaching wisdom through the lens of cognitive science, it sheds light on both the nature of wisdom and some of the processes by which it is cultivated. By providing insight into the underlying neurological mechanisms, relevance realization studies offer unique resources for wisdom development at more practical levels.
Second, relevance realization goes beyond rationality and logic. Determining relevance isn’t just a matter of making the most logical choice possible within a situation abstracted from all other situations. It is also about pursuing a particular goal and pursuing that particular goal in a particular way. As such, relevance realization allows us to think differently about decision-making and goal attainment. This perspective resonates with the biblical call to discernment—a call not merely to reason well, but to pursue righteousness within the messiness of life.
Third, relevance realization remains deeply embedded within reality. Embodied cognition—the idea that our knowledge is influenced by our physical, social, and historical contexts—does not negate conceptual or propositional truth. Rather, it emphasizes that our engagement with truth is situated. We engage from a particular point of view. Relevance realization affirms that there is a reality beyond us—a transcendent dimension—while acknowledging our need to make decisions in the various concrete—the imminent dimension—moments.
Relevance and Wisdom
In their treatment of cognition, relevance realization, and wisdom Vervaeke and Ferraro begin by suggesting, “wisdom…involves some kind of cognitive improvement that afford the living of a good life.” As they consider various philosophical, psychological, and neuroscientific sources related to wisdom, they sharpen the “kind of cognitive improvement” that wisdom entails.
- “Self-transformation is central to wisdom and all wisdom is inherently personal wisdom.”
This quotation points to the gap between possessing facts and being wise. It also clarifies the difference between simple ignorance and genuine foolishness. Vervaeke and Ferraro advance the idea that while theoretical knowledge is a component necessary for wisdom—just as ignorance can cultivate foolishness—wisdom cannot be collapsed into theoretical knowledge. Wisdom is a matter of “reconfiguring the relevance of existing facts.” It is about rightly recognizing the significance of what we already know in light of what we ought to become.
Consider, for instance, the report of the spies in Numbers 13. Rather than drawing on the traditions handed down by Moses, the provision of God in the wilderness, or the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, the spies give greater weight to the danger posed by the inhabitants of Canaan than on God’s past activity on behalf of the nation. The problem in this instance is not knowledge—the spies know and have experienced God’s salvation. By not rightly configuring the existing facts, the spies give unfaithful counsel.
- Wisdom includes “the central feature of seeing through illusion and by implication seeing into reality.”
It should be noted that Vervaeke and Ferraro use “reality” in the limited sense of “seeing into the nature of our problems, to be able to understand the challenges before us in a manner that facilitates their solution” rather than in a “metaphysical” sense of denoting “absolute truth.” While we might be quick to critique this limited understanding, it likely represents an appropriate boundary for cognitive psychology as a discipline. In any case, the notion that wisdom involves “seeing through illusion” and “into reality” gestures toward the need to understand the governing dynamics of the world—the way the world actually works—not just how to manipulate the world in a more narrow, singular instance.
In Deuteronomy 30, the Israelites are given the choice between life and death. God calls them to love him by obeying his commands. Turning away from God will bring death. Remaining loyal to God will bring life. In verse 20, Moses reminds the Israelites that the Lord “is your life and length of days.” The passage points to the governing dynamics—the deep structure—of reality. Unqualified loyalty to God is intrinsic to reality and, as such, is the only way we can truly see through illusion.
- “One significant difference [between expertise and wisdom] is that expertise is largely value neutral. One can use one’s expertise for good or for evil, yet wisdom seems to be inherently virtuous: it can only be about making life good.”
The distinction between expertise and wisdom informs the relationship between knowledge and wisdom. Someone can be “intelligent” without being particularly wise. Similarly, someone can be relatively uneducated and still be quite wise. Wisdom is a matter of working toward the “good.” Developing expertise can fall prey to the vice of “curiositas” which is “knowledge of important things lodged in minds unsuited to steward them.” Wisdom, however, requires the development of suitable minds.
When Paul addresses the “weak” and the “strong” in Romans 14, he advocates for wisdom over “expertise.” In this case, “expertise” concerns the knowledge that all things are clean (14:14). However, Paul urges believers not to be driven by this relatively narrow proposition about eating food but by an unwavering desire to build up the body of Christ. Paul is not suggesting that believers set the truth aside. Instead, he encourages patience and self-sacrifice (15:1). The knowledge or expertise about what is or is not unclean cannot be allowed to overshadow the pursuit of the “good life” in which God’s people “with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (15:6).
Conclusion
Relevance realization is intrinsic to wisdom. While relevance realization occurs on multiple levels; however, those levels are not isolated from one another. Determining relevance is, as Vervaeke and Ferraro note, “Wisdom…involves seeing the world comprehensively in such a way that one can regulate one’s actions into alignment with realizing the good life.” Seeing the world as comprehensively as possible requires that (a) we acknowledge the Triune God’s ongoing, active presence within the world and (b) we recognize God as infinitely more relevant than any other actor of factor we may encounter. For Christians, relevance realization is governed by the conviction that trueing ourselves to God as our reference point—walking faithfully with the Lord—can never be compromised.
