A Close Reading of Pirkei Avot 5:7

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שבעה דברים בגולם ושבעה בחכם.

חכם אינו מדבר בפני מי שהוא גדול ממנו בחכמה ובמנין, ואינו נכנס לתוך דברי חברו, ואינו נבהל להשיב, שואל כענין ומשיב כהלכה, ואומר על ראשון ראשון ועל אחרון אחרון, ועל מה שלא שמע, אומר 'לא שמעתי', ומודה על האמת.

וחלופיהן בגולם.

There are seven things of a Golem, and seven of a wise man. 

A wise man does not speak before one who is greater than him in wisdom or age. He does not interrupt his fellow's words. He does not hasten to answer. His questions are on the subject and his answers to the point. He responds to first things first and to latter things later. Concerning what he did not hear, he says "I did not hear." He concedes to the truth. 

Of the Golem, the reverse of them is so.

If I were to break up the things here, I would do it as two groups of three, and the last one as a capstone to them all. I also detect a hierarchy of knowledge that becomes important.

1. A wise man does not speak before one who is greater than him in wisdom or age. 

                           2. He does not interrupt his fellow's words. 

                                                 3. He does not hasten to answer. 

                                                 

                                                 4. He asks on topic and he answers accurately.

                           5. He responds to first things first and to latter things later. 

6. Concerning what he did not hear, he says "I did not hear." 

                                                   

                                               7. He concedes to the truth. 

There is a reverse hierarchy of knowledge present here. The lesson is that one can be a wise person, whether they have specific knowledge or not, by the way they act in learning.

When a person knows little, when there are people who know more than him, he should listen and learn, and not speak. Further, even if he is among equal-level colleagues, he should not interrupt so that he can learn from friends. And lastly, even if he knows a lot, and can answer questions, he should pause and consider what he would be teaching the person who asked, and how best to answer. He might learn something through his own process, since the person's very question might sharpen his knowledge.

So: 1 is when he is lesser, he must do what he can to learn from higher ups. 2 is when he is equal, he must do what he can to learn from his fellow. And 3 is when he is the higher up, and he should do what he can to even learn from that situation where someone is subservient to him in knowledge.

All three of these are to be silent, for as Pirkei Avot repeats again and again, silence causes wisdom. One can only learn if they listen first. Even when answering a question, one should refrain from speaking before the right time.

The next three criteria start with a person being higher up, and this still requires this process of patient understanding. When he knows everything, he should ask and answer accurately. If he doesn't know everything, but wants have a wise conversation with an equal, he should put them in the appropriate order. And if he doesn't know it, he should say he doesn't know instead of trying to pretend he does.

So now we have the reverse order hierarchy. 4 is when he is high up, he must do what he can to teach others and learn things well. 5 is when he is equal level, he must speak in the right order to understand the discussion at hand. 6 is when he is lesser, and doesn't know, he should say he hasn't heard, and make himself open to hearing.

Again, all three of these are not of silence, but of what to say. How to speak so as to result in wisdom. The listening, and the speaking, mirror each other.

All of this is in the service of admitting the truth when others say it. Whether they are higher up, equal level, or lesser level to you, admit the truth, no matter the source. Artscroll's siddur commentary says that this is when one makes an error, he should admit his mistake. But I see it as the truth coming from others.

Indeed, this is the extended version of Avot 4:1's "בן זומא אומר:איזהו חכם? הלומד מכל אדם".