everybody wonders, everyday, we cannot stop

Firstly, I do not agree that "in the process of growing up we lose the ability to wonder about the world". No one can truly "lose the ability to wonder about the world". Everybody wonders, everyday. They wonder why the rain starts to pour when they step outside, why there's a landslide that has caused a traffic jam, why the cash machine won't accept their card, why the sun won't shine when they plan to go to the beach... You could say people wonder on different "scales" but in the end, they still wonder.

In a way, the impression is given that a person's ability to wonder diminishes somewhat, as they grow older, to a much smaller amount than that of a child, but that is not to say it ever disappears. Adults may appear to wonder "less" but I believe that is all down to habit and behavioral factors we pick up. Growing up, we may question many things but are given certain answers that we naturally come to accept. On the other hand, I believe adults still can wonder as much as a child but it is never as obvious. Consequently, the full statement that "It seems as if in the process of growing up we lose the ability to wonder about the world." is relatively correct as, it does SEEM so.

Albert Knox was trying to say that it appears as people grow up, they cannot wonder anymore, and I have to agree that this is rather true. For example, older people may seem to wonder less as they already know the "answers" to many questions younger children may ask, so put those questions out of their mind.

Imagine yourself in a hospital waiting room filled with people of different ages. A doctor walks up to a man and says something and that man begins to cry. An older man in that room would immediately understand that the doctor has either told that person something extremely bad or extremely good. He would accept this fact and carry on with whatever he had previously been doing. However, a young child in that room would instantly ask you, "Why is that man crying?". You could answer, "The doctor has told him some news." and the child would continue, "But why is he crying?" and you could say, "The news wasn't good news." and the child would then say, "But why...?" until he can gets the most comprehensible answer. This happens because the young child has not yet come to learn why someone would be crying in a hospital waiting room. After this experience, the child will come to understand more WHY this happened and will now wonder "less" about crying people in hospital waiting rooms. As the child grows up, more of these events will occur which will lead to his older state of mind where he comes to accept the things he has already seen and becomes the older man in the room. Another similar anecdote would be that of little Thomas (found in the book). Mother reacts as she does because she has come to accept that people cannot fly whereas Thomas has no idea and is so open to anything possible.

Yet no one can ever NOT wonder about those crying people. They will wonder what happened, even though this thought may be lurking somewhere in the very corners of their mind. But, as older people tend to be more quiet about their thoughts, (due to some amount of pride about always wanting to be in the know or the fact that they don't want to be invading and ask or some other "block") so they are more inclined to push these questions away. Nevertheless, you must remember, they STILL wondered in the first place.

Therefore, you can see that older people are restricted in their wondering because of behavioral factors that become second nature to us as we grow up and so it SEEMS as if they do not wonder anymore. As said before, some examples are pride and politeness. Pride is a big "wondering block" for older people and this can lead to the illusion that as people grow older, they stop wondering. If you ask an older person a question, most would try to give you an answer first because they need to show you they know things. Pride is not something people would admit to but it does exist inside and unless we can admit we don't know, we will never be able to learn and wonder. As Albert Knox later says in the book, "Wisest is she who know she does not know...". Only putting aside our pride will allow us "older people" to ever truly wonder more. It may take several seconds for us to change, days or even our entire lifetime. As a 92 year old woman once said, "I've learned I still have a lot to learn."

Giving up on a question is also another big factor. An example would be myself. I used to wonder why it always seemed to always rain when I forgot to bring an umbrella out but now I just accept it does. However, the question still occasionally pops into my mind and therefore I think no matter how hard we try (or unconsciously try) to forget questions and not wonder, we CANNOT stop.

In a way the statement is actually correct. It does "seem" that as you grow up, you stop wondering. On the other hand, we will always wonder. Look carefully at other people and yourself (who else better to look at?). We all wonder. Everyday. No matter how small or big, apparent or obscure, and it is impossible to stop. How did the world get to where it is today? How are we living the way we are? It is because we cannot help but wonder if...