Wondering About Wonder

by George Palczynski (December 2017)

Polynesia, The Sky, Henri Matisse, 1946

 

Wonder, indeed, is, on all hands, dying out: it is the sign of uncultivation to wonder.
—Thomas Carlyle, Signs Of the Times (Critical And Miscellaneous Essays)

 

I wondered this morning after shaking off the final moments of sleep. I wondered what I would write on the subject of wonder. First thing I concluded was that it would not be a book. The second was that mystery and wonder are two sides of the same coin and the coin has an edge. Flip it often enough and either side may be master for a time until the physical law of the nature of odds make them equal for a moment.

 

An interjection—an aphorism from me for the betterment of mankind: Insofar as a thing remains a mystery it remains of interest.
 

Humans readily embark on wonder, one would suspect, but they do not linger wondering for long. Some have the predisposition and by wondering often become philosophers, poets, scientists, busybodies. Most, though, go through the wonder that is life, all the while un-wondering. (Thank you again, Mr. Carlyle)

 

 

Fads and Fantasies

 

 

Who Wondered and How

 

Providentially

—Plato, Theaetetus

 

Introspectively

People travel to wonder at the height of the mountains, at the huge waves of the seas, at the long course of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars, and yet they pass by themselves without wondering.
—St. Augustine, Confessions – Book X

 

Scientifically

. . . after wondering, men began to philosophize, when wonder ceases, knowledge begins . . .
—Roger Bacon

 

Contemplatively

Contemplation is the highest expression of man’s intellectual and spiritual life. It is that life itself, fully awake, fully active, fully aware that it is alive. It is spiritual wonder. It is spontaneous awe at the sacredness of life, of being.
—Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation

 

Emotionally

Two things fill us with awe: the starry sky above and the moral law within.
—Immanuel Kant

 

Cryptically(?) Profoundly(?) Smart-aleckly(?)

Man has to awaken to wonder
—Ludwig Wittgenstein

 

Devoutly

 

Satirically

I wonder what fool it was that first invented kissing.
—Jonathan Swift

 

Practically

I wonder if a soldier ever does mend a bullet hole in his coat?
—Clara Barton

 

Matter-of-Factly

 

Diurnally

Enough Already!

 

The Happy Few Who Still Wonder

 

 

One will find a great deal on wonder if one seeks it out. There is always some small contention over the taxonomy of astonishment, awe, curiosity, interest, etc., all the way to wonder.

 

Herewith a taxonomy of sorts:

Make your own taxonomy but by no means let that interfere with your wondering.

 

On What Shall I Wonder First

 

What should have more of our attention, during the long holiday season—Thanksgiving to Christmas—than God?

 

 

Recall:

Insofar as a thing remains a mystery, it remains a matter of interest.

 

Atom In The Universe

 

. . . I stand at the seashore, alone, and start to think.

 

There are the rushing waves, mountains of molecules

Each stupidly minding its own business

Trillions apart, yet forming white surf in unison

 

Ages on ages, before any eyes could see

Year after year, thunderously pounding the shore as now

For whom, for what?

On a dead planet, with no life to entertain

 

Never at rest, tortured by energy

Wasted prodigiously by the sun, poured into space

A mite makes the sea roar

 

Deep in the sea, all molecules repeat the patterns

Of one another till complex new ones are formed

They make others like themselves

And a new dance starts

 

Growing in size and complexity

Living things, masses of atoms, DNA, protein

Dancing a pattern ever more intricate

 

Out of the cradle onto the dry land

Here it is standing

Atoms with consciousness, matter with curiosity

Stands at the sea, wonders at wondering

 

I, a universe of atoms

An atom in the universe

 

—Richard P. Feynman (physicist)

 

Merry, Happy, Joyful, Wonderful Christmas to all.

 

___________________
George Palczynski is an observer of life. He claims only some knowledge in most everything and complete knowledge in nothing, making him generally smart but particularly stupid. Make of that your own speculation.

More by George Palczynski here.

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