The first time I read the forum topic, the first thing that came to mind was a girl who sat behind me in a movie theater constantly asking her mom "why?". She asked questions about the movie which I thought were pretty stupid like: "Why is that man fat?", "why is he eating a mango?", etc. Those were questions that never even occurred to me, it's as though over the years its been hot wired into my brain that I should respond to these questions with: "That's just the way it is." Have I really lost my ability to wonder about the world or does it just take the form as something else?
To some extent, yes, we do lose some degree of curiosity of the world. The differences in attitudes between the girl and myself is probably due to because "to children, the world and everything in it is new...most adults accept the world as a matter of course". Through our life experiences and daily routine, the freshness of some aspects of life are lost. It's the classic saying "been there, done that". For example, my first scoop of Dreyer's vanilla ice-cream gave a wonderful sensation in my mouth that I have never tasted before; but as I had the ice-cream more frequently, it was still tasty but I never felt that sensation ever again.
Knowledge is another possible factor for our depleting curiosity - knowledge about the world and about ourselves. In his letters, Knox mentions how "it all has to do with habit...Mom has learned that people cannot fly. Thomas has not. He still isn't certain what you can and cannot do in this world". Basically, what he means by this is that logic limits our questioning, and we are taught that some things simply cannot be done. Children on the other hand do not know the boundaries in life, thus can ask all sorts of really strange questions.
Now, lets go back to what I said about "knowledge about ourselves". Knox did not mention this but it could be that our beliefs are also limiting our sense of curiosity. As we grow up, we establish our beliefs and stand very strongly by them. However, if we were to question them, it would probably undermine and destroy the basis of our beliefs. Contrastingly, young children do not have a set of established values yet and so they can "wonder" more. Ironically though, this "wondering" probably would eventually lead to this establishment of beliefs. The ability to wonder could lead to the inability to wonder.
However, I do not believe that it is inevitable that we lose our sense of curiosity. Though children have an unlimited number of questions, they are very limited in how far they can go with an single question. I noticed this at the movies between the girl and her mother. When her mother gave her an answer, the girl just left it at that and asked a different question. Remember how when we were little, we just accepted the fact that our parents were always right? This is what basically happened at the cinema. The girl did not question her mother's answer at all.
This is where adults can question more than children. As I mentioned in the first paragraph, it could be that our wonder of the world takes form as something else. In this case, knowledge is the gateway to our questioning, not something that inhibits it. We gain more maturity as we grow, and naturally knowledge comes with it. When we're presented a question, we know there are multiple ways at looking at it, and in turn we can also question each possible answer, so on so forth. Maturity also brings new interests that we might not have taken notice of as a child. For example, politics, science, history, the list goes on. We have a broader palette of things that we can and like to question.
In conclusion, how you respond to this topic really depends on what you perceive the "ability to wonder" means. Is it the ability to ask many questions that are not bound by logic or is it the ability to scour deeper into a question and to even question the very answers that are given?
To some extent, yes, we do lose some degree of curiosity of the world. The differences in attitudes between the girl and myself is probably due to because "to children, the world and everything in it is new...most adults accept the world as a matter of course". Through our life experiences and daily routine, the freshness of some aspects of life are lost. It's the classic saying "been there, done that". For example, my first scoop of Dreyer's vanilla ice-cream gave a wonderful sensation in my mouth that I have never tasted before; but as I had the ice-cream more frequently, it was still tasty but I never felt that sensation ever again.
Knowledge is another possible factor for our depleting curiosity - knowledge about the world and about ourselves. In his letters, Knox mentions how "it all has to do with habit...Mom has learned that people cannot fly. Thomas has not. He still isn't certain what you can and cannot do in this world". Basically, what he means by this is that logic limits our questioning, and we are taught that some things simply cannot be done. Children on the other hand do not know the boundaries in life, thus can ask all sorts of really strange questions.
Now, lets go back to what I said about "knowledge about ourselves". Knox did not mention this but it could be that our beliefs are also limiting our sense of curiosity. As we grow up, we establish our beliefs and stand very strongly by them. However, if we were to question them, it would probably undermine and destroy the basis of our beliefs. Contrastingly, young children do not have a set of established values yet and so they can "wonder" more. Ironically though, this "wondering" probably would eventually lead to this establishment of beliefs. The ability to wonder could lead to the inability to wonder.
However, I do not believe that it is inevitable that we lose our sense of curiosity. Though children have an unlimited number of questions, they are very limited in how far they can go with an single question. I noticed this at the movies between the girl and her mother. When her mother gave her an answer, the girl just left it at that and asked a different question. Remember how when we were little, we just accepted the fact that our parents were always right? This is what basically happened at the cinema. The girl did not question her mother's answer at all.
This is where adults can question more than children. As I mentioned in the first paragraph, it could be that our wonder of the world takes form as something else. In this case, knowledge is the gateway to our questioning, not something that inhibits it. We gain more maturity as we grow, and naturally knowledge comes with it. When we're presented a question, we know there are multiple ways at looking at it, and in turn we can also question each possible answer, so on so forth. Maturity also brings new interests that we might not have taken notice of as a child. For example, politics, science, history, the list goes on. We have a broader palette of things that we can and like to question.
In conclusion, how you respond to this topic really depends on what you perceive the "ability to wonder" means. Is it the ability to ask many questions that are not bound by logic or is it the ability to scour deeper into a question and to even question the very answers that are given?
5 comments:
Your point about adults being more concerned about these questions is true, but the number of adults who are really concerned about these questions are significantly low. I know lots of adults who've accepted life as it is, and no longer have the need to question life and death. They accept that they will die one day, and learn to enjoy each day to the fullest.
Your point that our growing knowledge leads to the diminishing of our curiousity is indeed persuasive and I have also witnessed something similar to the example you gave with the girl in the cinema. However, when you said that the girl simply believed what her mother told her I cannot agree with. Just because she sat back in silence does not necessarily mean that she has stopped thinking about it and is it actually true that adults are interested in things such as politics, science and history or is it simply because of the norm of society?
Thanks for the comments!
Kevin: Can't you be both? Being able to accept life as it is and think about what's after death? Just look at all those religious people out there. Many of them sincerely believe in life after death, but that doesn't mean that they can't live life to the fullest. Also, according to statistics, approximately 75% of the world's population are religious. As most religions believe in some form of life after death, I'm not so sure about you saying that the adults concerned with "life after death" questions are the minority.
Cheryl: That girl was a very young child at the time, so I think if she really was thinking about what her mother said, she would have said something. Children usually just blurt something out if something comes to mind. Regarding adults being interested in politics and science, this obviously can't apply to everyone. But isn't it more likely to see an adult having an interest in politics than a child?
Myra! I find myself nodding as I was taking in your opinions. Children, indeed, wonder and question a lot, demonstrating their innocence and their process of getting accustomed to the world, but once they get an answer, do they dig deeper to the bottom?
It hit me how amazingly our brains develop as we grow up. You write "knowledge is the gateway to our questioning". Exactly! It is our growing maturity and knowledge that enable us to wonder in more depth and awaken our ability to wonder! Albert Knox is too cynical and critical in proposing everyone except children and philosophers doesn’t care or wonder about the world!
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