NationStates Jolt Archive

A rather insistent person asked me what I believed. After believing I'd have another drink and quoting Crash Davis (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBfdl6hNZ9k) failed to appease, I had to pause. For the first time in 35 years, I seriously considered what I believe.*
I have concluded that I believe in curiosity, imagination, and a sense of wonder about the universe.
And, being curious, I looked them all up. And found some very interesting, and possibly improbable, explanations of what they are, and their relationship to each other. So, I turn to you, oh wise NSG. Question if you want, express opinion, debate if you must, riff, wax poetic, synthesize if you can:
What is curiosity?
What is imagination?
What is wonder?
How are they related?


*I've spent the last 35 years actively, and sometimes vociferously, not believing things. There's a fantastic amount of things out there to not believe, so it's kept me busy.

What is curiosity?
What is imagination?
What is wonder?
How are they related?

1) licking your dogs butt to see what the fuss is all about
2) turning the lights out
3) watching a really really big explosion and that "woooo!" moment
4) they all require a little curiosity

I set a big shiny purple box on the table.

Curiosity brings you over to examine the box. You wonder what might be inside. You imagine possibilities. Curious, you open the box. A spring-loaded pie launcher sends a chocolate cream pie right into your face and you wonder why you didn't see that coming.

:)

Read my sig!

I've just home from seeing School of Seven Bells live. Now, they are sublime!

I set a big shiny purple box on the table.

Curiosity brings you over to examine the box. You wonder what might be inside. You imagine possibilities. Curious, you open the box. A spring-loaded pie launcher sends a chocolate cream pie right into your face and you wonder why you didn't see that coming.

:)
I would have preferred custard :(

Children have all three but they tend to diminish as we get older.

The three are all wrapped up in one. Without wonder about the things of life, we wouldn't have the drive to imagine possibilities or the curiosity to explore them. Conversely, without the innate curiosity as children we would never have the schemas from which we can imagine variants of these. Wonder is the continual surprise at how something can be either entirely different from anything you've experienced before or a minute variance of something you experience everyday that you suddenly view in a very different way when you discover this.

Children have all three but they tend to diminish as we get older.

The three are all wrapped up in one. Without wonder about the things of life, we wouldn't have the drive to imagine possibilities or the curiosity to explore them. Conversely, without the innate curiosity as children we would never have the schemas from which we can imagine variants of these. Wonder is the continual surprise at how something can be either entirely different from anything you've experienced before or a minute variance of something you experience everyday that you suddenly view in a very different way when you discover this.

Do they have to diminish? Are these the qualities people have in mind when they speak of "being childlike, but not childish"?

hmm, the relations between wonder, curiosity, and imagination before... at a first glance, i'd say something like this:

wonder is what sets off curiosity, the feeling of amazement and confusion and interest - and i'd say its one of the basic feelings of humanity, up there with fear and joy and hunger and "i'd totally hit that" and such. to not feel wonder is to lead an impoverished life. of course, i'm a philosopher, so i'm probably a bit biased...

curiosity is the drive to look into things, the step beyond "wow, that's interesting" and over to "how does that work?" and "i wonder what's over there? let's go find out." i'm not sure that one can truly feel wonder about something without also feeling curiosity towards it. it seems to me that something like wonder without curiosity might better be captured by a term like awe.

imagination does a number of things for us, but in direct regards to wonder and curiosity, it looks to me like it is part of the method of dealing with our curiosity and wonder - a way to solve the puzzles and challenges we find ourselves presented with. the creative spark brought on by wonder, if you will.

I would have preferred custard :(

I left that in your sock drawer. :)

I left that in your sock drawer. :)
Looks like I picked the wrong week to give up having feet :eek2:

Curiosity is human nature. Imagination is granted to all, but gifted only to the few. Wonder is a human reaction. All contribute to great thinking.

Looks like I picked the wrong week to give up having feet :eek2:

Indeed. Lent was last month. :p

Curiosity is human nature. Imagination is granted to all, but gifted only to the few. Wonder is a human reaction. All contribute to great thinking.
That makes a very nice quote! TY!

That makes a very nice quote! TY!

Thanks. :$

Indeed. Lent was last month. :p
Doh! Now I'm cross that I didn't nail it :eek:

Do they have to diminish? Are these the qualities people have in mind when they speak of "being childlike, but not childish"?

It's partly the fact adults have seen a lot of things so don't ascribe so much amazement to 'similar but not quite the same' things, even though this is where originality lies. Things like imaginary friends and making up stories and situations out of household items are not considered appropriate for an adult, even though they are foundations of our imaginations and I think they should be used more. I write a lot of music so have channelled it somewhere else.

Looks like I picked the wrong week to give up having feet :eek2:

I have a sense of wonder whenever I watch Airplane!.

haha, st. augustine (http://www.ccel.org/ccel/augustine/confessions.xiii.html):

This malady of curiosity is...the reason why we proceed to search out the secret powers of nature--those which have nothing to do with our destiny--which do not profit us to know about, and concerning which men desire to know only for the sake of knowing.
curiosity didn't just kill the cat, it was an offense to god.

haha, st. augustine (http://www.ccel.org/ccel/augustine/confessions.xiii.html):


curiosity didn't just kill the cat, it was an offense to god.

But, of course. Curiosity leads people to wonder whether god really exists.

haha, st. augustine (http://www.ccel.org/ccel/augustine/confessions.xiii.html):


curiosity didn't just kill the cat, it was an offense to god."The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity."
Attributed to both Ellen Parr and Dorothy Parker.

I set a big shiny purple box on the table.

Curiosity brings you over to examine the box. You wonder what might be inside. You imagine possibilities. Curious, you open the box. A spring-loaded pie launcher sends a chocolate cream pie right into your face and you wonder why you didn't see that coming.

:)

Should have paid attention to the "LG Manufacturing" logo on the damn box. ;)

A rather insistent person asked me what I believed. After believing I'd have another drink and quoting Crash Davis (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBfdl6hNZ9k) failed to appease, I had to pause. For the first time in 35 years, I seriously considered what I believe.*
I have concluded that I believe in curiosity, imagination, and a sense of wonder about the universe.
And, being curious, I looked them all up. And found some very interesting, and possibly improbable, explanations of what they are, and their relationship to each other. So, I turn to you, oh wise NSG. Question if you want, express opinion, debate if you must, riff, wax poetic, synthesize if you can:
What is curiosity?
What is imagination?
What is wonder?
How are they related?


*I've spent the last 35 years actively, and sometimes vociferously, not believing things. There's a fantastic amount of things out there to not believe, so it's kept me busy.

What is curiosity?

Curiosity is desire to know things just for the sake of knowing

What is imagination?

Imagination is the mind at play. Nothing is impossible.

What is wonder?
Is the amazement one feels at looking at the world and all it's complex processes. When I put a piece of bread in the toaster, when it is done it comes out perfectly brown and crunchy. The bread went in soft and sort of spongy and it comes out harder and crunchy. Really good with butter and jam or peanut butter.


How are they related?

Curiosity and wonder are related, kind of like cousins.

Imagination is an entity all to itself.

It's partly the fact adults have seen a lot of things so don't ascribe so much amazement to 'similar but not quite the same' things, even though this is where originality lies. Things like imaginary friends and making up stories and situations out of household items are not considered appropriate for an adult, even though they are foundations of our imaginations and I think they should be used more. I write a lot of music so have channelled it somewhere else.



I have a sense of wonder whenever I watch Airplane!.

Just don't call me Shirley.

Ooh shiny things!

more on what people have said before; this time, plato in the theaetetus 155c-d:


Socrates: I believe that you follow me, Theaetetus; for I suspect that you have thought of these questions before now.

Theaetetus: Yes, Socrates, and I am amazed when I think of them; by the Gods I am! and I want to know what on earth they mean; and there are times when my head quite swims with the contemplation of them.

Socrates: I see, my dear Theaetetus, that Theodorus had a true insight into your nature when he said that you were a philosopher, for wonder is the feeling of a philosopher, and philosophy begins in wonder.

Has anybody ever read the story of the Big Black Box? That perfectly sums up the meaning of curiosity, wonder, and imagination are, then it demonstrates why you also need to add a little bit of skepticism.

Curiosity is human nature. Imagination is granted to all, but gifted only to the few. Wonder is a human reaction. All contribute to great thinking.

That was awesome and made me like this thread even more.

Quoting Crash Davis should be enough to appease anyone.

Quoting Crash Davis should be enough to appease anyone.
One would have thought so. Apparently, they'd heard it before, and, while amused, and I did get points for it, I found myself urged to give a less-than-flippant answer.

Children have all three but they tend to diminish as we get older.

The three are all wrapped up in one. Without wonder about the things of life, we wouldn't have the drive to imagine possibilities or the curiosity to explore them. Conversely, without the innate curiosity as children we would never have the schemas from which we can imagine variants of these. Wonder is the continual surprise at how something can be either entirely different from anything you've experienced before or a minute variance of something you experience everyday that you suddenly view in a very different way when you discover this.

I can't say I agree. Certainly they diminish for the same things, but as the mystical becomes the mundane, the wondrous becomes the ordinary, we often find new things to take wonder at, or old things to look at another way.

Rainbows for instance. We all now know what causes them, it's an optical effect from the refraction of light through water vapor in the atmosphere, a phenomenon that can be summed up in a single equation (Snell's Law). But knowing all this, for me at least, in fact enhances my wonder at them. That something so amazing in visual effect can stem from something so simple, so mundane, is a kind of wonder, and sparks the kind of curiosity and imagination, that children are generally unable to fully grasp.

>.>

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggdoi0rgSjI

Imagination is what separates humans from all other animals. Other animals can be taught to speak, or use tools. They can mimic patterns, and sometimes understand what they mean. I have never heard of an animal though, that has an imagination. Imagination is the primary achievement of mankind, as well as its man downfall. Imagination has led to great works of art, as well as terrible tragedies formed out of hateful ideologies.

I can't say I agree. Certainly they diminish for the same things, but as the mystical becomes the mundane, the wondrous becomes the ordinary, we often find new things to take wonder at, or old things to look at another way.

Rainbows for instance. We all now know what causes them, it's an optical effect from the refraction of light through water vapor in the atmosphere, a phenomenon that can be summed up in a single equation (Snell's Law). But knowing all this, for me at least, in fact enhances my wonder at them. That something so amazing in visual effect can stem from something so simple, so mundane, is a kind of wonder, and sparks the kind of curiosity and imagination, that children are generally unable to fully grasp.

Oh yeah, I agree that we gain interest and wonder in certain areas. I guess I wasn't as clear as I should've been. Children wonder about everything. Adults have discovered what they're interested in and wonder about that, they got bored by other things. I love analysis of music which some people claims ruins the mystery of it, but for me opens up new ways of listening to a piece.

Pandora?

>.>

<.<

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggdoi0rgSjI

Hella expensive mic to use as a prop :tongue: The pink "Rick Springfield" tee is a nice touch, though :wink:

Oh yeah, I agree that we gain interest and wonder in certain areas. I guess I wasn't as clear as I should've been. Children wonder about everything. Adults have discovered what they're interested in and wonder about that, they got bored by other things. I love analysis of music which some people claims ruins the mystery of it, but for me opens up new ways of listening to a piece.

Ah, I see. Then yes, we're in agreement.

Hella expensive mic to use as a prop :tongue: The pink "Rick Springfield" tee is a nice touch, though :wink:

That song is one of my guilty pleasures.

Imagination is the creation of new ideas, curiosity is the attempt of new ideas, and wonder is the results of the attempt.

Imagination: What would happen if we mix X, Y, A together?
Curiosity: Lets mix X, Y, A together.
Wonder: So that is how you blow a roof off the science lab!