Ecclesiastes 1:17

And I set my heart to know wisdom and to know the folly of ideas and to know foolish behavior, and I know that this as well is like chasing the wind.
Ecclesiastes 1:17 Modern English Version (MEV)
 
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And I gave my heart to know wisdom,.... Which is repeated, for the confirmation of it, from Ecc_1:13, and that it might be taken notice of how assiduous and diligent he had been in acquiring it; a circumstance not to be overlooked;
 
and to know madness and folly: that he might the better know wisdom, and learn the difference between the one and the other, since opposites illustrate each other; and that he might shun madness and folly, and the ways thereof, and expose the actions of mad and foolish men: so Plato (s) says, ignorance is a disease, of which there are two kinds, madness and folly. The Targum, Septuagint, and all the Oriental versions, interpret the last word, translated "folly", by understanding, knowledge, and prudence; which seems to be right, since Solomon speaks of nothing afterwards, as vexation and grief to him, but wisdom and knowledge: and I would therefore read the clause in connection with the preceding, thus, "and the knowledge of things boasted of", vain glorious knowledge; "and prudence", or what may be called craftiness and cunning; or what the apostle calls "science falsely so called", 1Ti_6:20; see Pro_12:8;
 
I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit; See Gill on Ecc_1:14; the reason follows.
 
(s) In Timaeo, p. 1084.
 
John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible
 
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There is absolutely nothing wrong with the pursuit of knowledge although that pursuit can be taken to extreme. Knowledge and wisdom are not the same, nor does wisdom automatically follow after knowledge. One can have a boatload of college degrees, or as one pastor put it, more degrees than Fahrenheit, but that doesn’t guarantee you’ll have an ounce of common sense.