Our ability to wonder about the world...

In Chapter 2, Albert Knox states that "It seems as if in the process of growing up we lose the ability to wonder about the world." Though I can see his line of thought, I don’t agree with it.

Young children are undoubtedly open-minded and sometimes react with more enthusiasm to situations that adults would find normal, usual or ordinary. For example, seeing a dog (an idea brought up in Sophie's World) is much more exciting from the point of view of a young child. Is this because the child is more 'able to wonder about the world'? Granted, the child is more excited by this situation than the adult is; but is that not just because it is purely a new experience? What's more, the child may seem excited or surprised, maybe even overly curious about the situation, but this doesn't mean that they are more able to wonder about the world; they are purely interested in something that a) they have not encountered before and b) is very different from themselves. That is the difference that growing up makes - every situation is new and exciting for the child, whereas the adult, who has seen it all before, is less enthused by it.

Secondly, it is in a child's nature to learn and take in new information - this is why we go to school from a young age, learn languages, learn to do maths etc. We know that it is much harder for an adult to learn to read and write than for a child; it's simply the way the human brain works. So, in response to what Albert Knox states, I think that the growing process only affects how we deal with new information, and how much we question it. If we have already learnt that rain comes from clouds, the older we get, the more unlikely it is that we will accept another theory - not because we do not wonder about the world, but because we learn and accept when we are young. Perhaps the fact that adults already have so much knowledge leads people to believe that they do not wonder about the world - but children do not wonder more, they just have less knowledge, and therefore need to learn more. Following this, aren't adults more likely to wonder about deeper issues? Whereas children wonder about the simple things that, at their early stage of life, are still challenging and new.

Furthermore, I think that children are less likely than adults to question new ideas. For instance, if a child is told that when you die you become an angel, they are naive enough to grasp the information with both hands; no questions asked. However, adults come to realise that what they are told is not always true and are therefore more likely to question it, and sometimes to draw up their own ideas on the matter.

In conclusion, I disagree with Knox, and believe that though the growing process does affect our ability to wonder about the world, it does not cause us to lose it. A child may question simple matters that an adult may normally take for granted, but an adult may want to question more complex issues. Children seek to learn, but this also allows them to accept everything they are told. Try telling an adult that Father Christmas still pops down the chimney. It's not happening. The growing process affects us in the way we wonder, and what we wonder about.

It does not have the ability to stop our wondering.