Our ability to wonder or to simply accept

Albert Knox states that "It seems as if in the process of growing up we lose the ability to wonder about the world." He means that as we get older we tend to adapt to a habit of being accepting and we start to lose curiosity within our environment. We would also find interest in fewer things; therefore we start to take things for granted. We appreciate less because as we grow older these things become common, hence the lack of interest. Where as children who are inexperienced would want to discover and try to understand.

I disagree that adults 'lose' this ability but it is simply a quality that we take for granted as experience overwrites curiosity. Through years of experience adults start to establish their own beliefs and form their own habits, people become more engaged into their own lives and start to become oblivious to questions such as ‘Who are you?’ or ‘Where did the world come from?. For example in the novel a child is gets excited every time it sees the dog and this process will have to ‘repeat itself hundreds of times before the child learns to pass a dog without going crazy’, which supports the idea that we lose the interest to wonder through experience. For a child who is inexperienced, they may seek interest objects that we find ‘common’. Another example would be the difference in the reactions of Thomas and his mum. Thomas is captivated as he is with most things that dad does, but mum screams whilst dropping the jam, this is because from experience mum knows that humans cannot fly. Where as Thomas who has yet to learn common from uncommon would be fascinated either way.

I believe that as adults we still wonder but only about things that would be significant to our everyday lives. We would wonder less as we have grown into a habit of accepting what's 'common' or 'uncommon' and wondering about common objects is no longer necessary. People become so engaged in their own lives that they would not think about other matters until another view or perspective is brought up. Sophie never thought of these problems until the envelopes with the questions appeared.

The truth is everyone wonders. Not everyone will wonder about the world but this ability is never lost. For those who have already established a belief of where the world came from, for example the big bang or the creation of God will simply move on to wonder about other things. As for others they may want to establish their own beliefs, age is not a matter but as we grow up we may not always have time to focus on other questions other than our everyday lives. What we decide to wonder about will only affect our own lives.