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Socrates: Wisdom Begins in Wonder
Pause to wonder
When we’re children, almost everything about the world is worth exploring. With each passing year, we learn more about the world around us and our place in it. As adults, this process of gaining knowledge often ceases to be an adventure and becomes a burden. Knowledge can be restrictive and hinder our ability to see things with new eyes.
In today’s fast-paced world, it can be increasingly difficult to step back and marvel at the beauty of the world around you. Sometimes all it takes is a small spark to reignite that sense of wonder and curiosity again.
For those who want to rediscover their inner child and rekindle their love for learning, a sense of wonder is an excellent place to start.
Wonder is a feeling of surprise and marvel that’s triggered by something unlikely or unusual. It is the feeling or state of being astonished and bewildered by something so new, strange or unexpected that it leaves you speechless.
It is not simply being astonished but an intense feeling of astonishment. It evokes curiosity, fascination, and even disbelief. Wonder awakens our curiosity, leaving us thirsty for more knowledge; it also makes us humble, keeping us from thinking we know everything already.
Another way to understand wonder is as the process of “seeing things as if for the first time.” We often experience wonder when we witness things that are so strange or beautiful that they seem almost magical.
Such a reaction helps us notice things we might not see on a daily basis, or notice only fleetingly, if at all. When we experience wonder, we take note of the situation and its implications in our lives.
When we see something strange, unusual or different from what we are used to, our natural response is to react with surprise. This sense of bewilderment sparks our curiosity and leads us to question why things are the way they are.
In doing so, we are not only acknowledging how different the unfamiliar thing is from what we already know but also how much there still is to learn about the world around us.
In one of the most famous quotes on philosophy, the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates said that the beginning of wisdom is…
