“It seems as if in the process of growing up we lose the ability to wonder about the world”. I think that this quote is quite self explanatory. He is saying that as we grow older we become unable to think philosophically about the world.
When I first read this quote, my initial response disagreed as I did not think it was possible for grown ups who have created the advanced world we live in today to not “wonder" about it. Generations of people have used their “ability to wonder” over the years to help their lifestyle and the world around them. I suppose that this wondering is for a necessity and a desired outcome but nevertheless has helped shape my world.
However, in deeper thought, I contemplated the ideas as to why adults might not explore their “faculty to wonder” as often as children. Firstly, I decided that as you grow up you get much busier and tend not to have the time to sit and day dream about the world. I can remember the days in primary school when I came home carefree and could simply relax for the rest of the evening. Nowadays, my life is much busier with homework and extra-curricular activities that take up most of my time. My schedule is packed and I barely have time to sleep let alone explore philosophical thoughts. Social constraints also restrict the idea of what is normal in life. If anything or anyone disturbs this comfortable existence we have created we are quite happy to allow them to “drink hemlock” to preserve it.
Secondly, I think that education restricts our “faculty to wonder”. As soon as we enter the educational system, concrete ideas are drilled into us constantly and anything that we might have believed or imagined to be true is either proved right or wrong. Scientific progress reinforces this. The “Mythological World” and stories to explain natural phenomena have been destroyed by discoveries such as the force of gravity.
Thirdly, life becomes humdrum. Adults often lose “enthusiasm” and are “not enthralled” as children are with everyday encounters with, for example, “a dog”.
Finally, I think that grown ups subconsciously find it safer to “snuggle…deep into the rabbit’s fur” than to explore their thoughts and find questions that they might not be able or not want to answer for fear of destroying the world as it is.
In conclusion, I do not think that grown ups physically or mentally “lose the ability to wonder” but simply subliminally refuse to as they are either comfortable in the “rabbit’s fur” or are too busy to spend time contemplating the world and the life in it.
7 comments:
Sorry for deleting my first comment. I made a grammatical error and was surprised that I could not edit my comment - I could only delete it. Here are my original words:
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"I think that education restricts our “faculty to wonder” ... concrete ideas are drilled into us ... anything that we might have believed or imagined to be true is either proved right or wrong."
Anna,
Though this may be true of the natural and formal sciences (i.e. Physics, Mathematics), would you not agree that to an extent Humanities, Social Sciences and especially Philosophy in our education system challenge our way of thinking? Instead of 'drilling' facts into our head, these subjects expect us to argue our own point of view with supporting evidence.
Using Economics as an example; it is a subject where nothing is proven. It is commonplace for new generations of economists to put forward new ideas and disprove old theories. In such an academic field, one would be constantly 'wondering' and challenging old theories.
Xiang Ding
That's the same for any other field (even physics, remember the structure of the atom, the plum pudding theory and the later nuclear model?). It's only GSCE that expects us to recall facts at a precise level.
Update: Actually I also do not believe education restricts our "faculty to wonder".
I find "Scientific progress" to be equivalent to the "Mythological World". They both try to explain the world. We all subconsciously choose the reasonings we think that fit the best.
Given that we believe to understand much more of the world then before, Science seems to make more sense (currently).
Anna,
I think it is true that people’s lives have so much going on and are so bombarded with activities, that we simply do not have time for philosophical questions that are not as important to us. I also agree that social norms has defined how life is ‘normal’ and that people would probably think that snuggling deep inside the rabbits fur would be the best solution. They would think that it would be best to keep the world as it is and be oblivious of those questions that do not have a definite answer. Thus, like you said in your post, ‘drink hemlock to preserve it’.
haitou, do you believe it is the "best to keep the world as it is and be oblivious of those questions[the meaning of life, etc]"?
I don't believe that education restricts our faculty of wonder, but it actually moulds it. As a result of our education, we have a basic frame work on which we build our knowledge. But our education does affect our thinking. We now can pose questions created by our learning. If we hadn't attended school, could we still ask the same questions that we do today? The answer is no. Whether we like it or not, our thoughts have been infiltrated with our education, discovered by scientists and philosophers over the centuries. Humanities subjects that are created to 'challenge our thinking', still contort our personal view as we hear strong opinions from fellow students and teachers. Every bit of information that we hear shapes our mind to make it what it is today. Overall, I believe education doesn't restrict our faculty of wonder but changes its course of direction.
a few words.
It's not just the educational system.
you miss out other valid affectors, such as family, religion, ethnicity, peers, lifestyle etc.
I believe people believe what they want to believe. It is up to humans to challenge that, whether tired, or wanting to be on the safe side or not, so its more willpower involved, the power of the mind and the spirit. than the power of others. even though many things affect one thing (us). We make our future, we succeed, we live our life, therefore, 'i think, therefore, i am' and what I make of my destiny.
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