Date of Award
2017
Document Type
Thesis
Department
English
First Reader
Dr. Johnny Wink
Second Reader
Dr. Tully Borland
Third Reader
Dr. Myra Houser
Abstract
Connecting a general want of wonder with the reality that there is neither the time nor the need to wonder about anything, when the answer to any query is constantly in our back pocket, waiting to be looked up on our smart phones. There is no space between the initial itch of a question and the satisfaction of learning its answer--that space between question and answer being a crucial element in wondering. Since the tools we use do shape us, it is important that we notice how we are being shaped.
Here’s what I think is at stake—in having such instant access to the internet, promising to let us know everything about the world in a glance, what if we’re getting bored with it? If we no longer have to work for knowledge, will we value it as much? And if we are being freed up, as proponents of more and more technology say, to think about higher issues, are we really doing that—or are we becoming more concerned with the trivial?
Recommended Citation
Horton, Joanna, "Hyperconnectivity, Transhumanism, and Chesterton’s “Want of Wonder”" (2017). Honors Theses. 243.
https://scholarlycommons.obu.edu/honors_theses/243