Why was Paul so conscious of the world's emphasis on human wisdom?
Paul had just come from Athens, the seat of philosophical thinking, where Athenian philosophers dismissed him as a babbler. That direct exposure to human wisdom's strongholds made him acutely aware of the world's emphasis on man's wisdom, which he contrasted with God's wisdom throughout 1 Corinthians.
Les explains that in the early part of 1 Corinthians, Paul constantly brings up the word wisdom, usually comparing man's wisdom with God's wisdom. Paul was probably more aware of the world's emphasis on man's wisdom than we can imagine, because shortly before coming to Corinth he was at Athens, the very seat of philosophical thinking. There he confronted the Athenian philosophers, and they called him a babbler. Yet compared to the philosophers of his day, it was really the other way around: Paul had the heavy stuff, while the philosophers had the babble. Les says it is not much different today, since the world's heavy thinkers and think tanks are nothing but babble compared to the word of God. They try to envision what will happen, but the writers of Scripture knew it thousands of years ago. Paul then came to Corinth, a city beset with idolatry, steeped in mythological worship, and gross immorality, and into that setting came the apostle.