We have not lost our ability to wonder, but have merely adapted

“It seems as if in the process of growing up we lose the ability to wonder about the world."

Albert Knox means that as humans grow up, we loose the interest we had in our childhood about our surroundings. We were seemingly less disturbed about the questions of life. Although Albert Knox is correct to some extent, we have not lost the ability to wonder; we have merely adapted to the world’s surroundings and given into the questions that no one can provide a satisfactory simple answer.

An example given on page 15-16 in the book: when encountering a dog, an infant would whelp in delight; whilst an adult would be unimpressed, lacking the fascination. This seems to represent the diminishing ability to wonder as we grow up; yet I believe that this is simply because we have seen a dog before and we understand that the sound they make is “bow wow”. Hence, as stated in the book, ‘It has all become a habit’.

In the past years, I read the series, “Hatchet”. It mentions how humans have lost their “animal instincts”. I’ve often imagined myself as a “primitive animal” and how I would react to the unfamiliar screeching buses or the advanced technology around us, and contrasted my thoughts to how different we would react nowadays. Thus, we simply decided not to wonder as our ‘knowledge’ allows us to understand what is happening around us without reacting.

Philosophical questions such as,” Where do we come from?” are continually asked through the minds of many. Some people have taken a step into believing and solving their queries by following a religion, while others continue to think differently, casting aside these questions. In both cases, we haven’t really lost the ability to wonder about the world; we have merely chosen to focus on what’s ahead of us. Why? It’s because these ‘big questions of life’ have no real solutions. They cannot be tackled alone, thus why should humans spend their entire lifetime on only one question on life? Additionally, as we grow up, we are burdened with more responsibilities, thus lacking the time to sit relax and think about questions in life that are less important at the current moment and that are not directly affecting our physical well being.

Hence, “loosing the ability to wonder” is an overstatement as if we had nothing to do and had all the time in the world; we would cast our minds on different philosophical questions. Therefore I disagree with Knox’s statement and believe that we have merely chosen not to wonder, and not ‘lost’ the ability to wonder.