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Does acquiring knowledge destroy our sense of wonder?

This IB Theory of Knowledge essay example, based on ToK Essay Titles – May 2025, critically examines whether acquiring knowledge diminishes or enhances our sense of wonder, particularly in the Natural Sciences and History. Written by our IB writer, the essay discusses how deeper insights into natural phenomena and historical events can either resolve mysteries, thus reducing wonder, or reveal greater complexities that heighten it. Through examples from both fields, it argues that while some discoveries clarify uncertainties, they often open new questions and areas for exploration, ultimately fostering an enduring sense of awe and curiosity.

September 24, 2024

* The sample essays are for browsing purposes only and are not to be submitted as original work to avoid issues with plagiarism.

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Does acquiring knowledge destroy our sense of wonder? Discuss with reference to two areas of

knowledge.

From the secrets of the universe to the intricacies of ancient civilizations, our search for

knowledge often starts many times from a point of wonder, an urge to know about things that are

not known. The natural world and its intricate laws and phenomena have long captured the

human imagination, and it is through the systematic pursuit of knowledge in the natural sciences

that many of these mysteries have been unraveled. Yet, these developments also detract from the

mysterious quality of things not fully understood. Equally, history is a precise chronicle of the

past, recording human affairs, reason, and civilization. The more perfectly we see into the past,

however, the less mystery that remains to it. This thus begs the question: To what extent does the

acquisition of knowledge reduce or increase our facility to feel wonder about the natural sciences

and history? In this case, wonder can be defined as an emotional feeling of awe and curiosity

wherein there is something unknown, while the acquisition of knowledge involves a systematic

way of learning and understanding through careful observation and analysis. This essay will

highlight that although the acquisition of knowledge may initially remove mystery, it ends up

perpetuating wonder in both the natural sciences and history, as greater complexities and new

areas of study are revealed.

History

In this subject, knowledge acquisition does not destroy our sense of wonder but rather enhances

it by revealing the intricate nature of past events. Thus, as an area of knowledge, history

generates knowledge about people’s actions, reconstructs these actions by processing the

evidence, and discovers not only what occurred but why it took place and how various

individuals or groups perceived that event. When one learns how certain events are

interconnected, the existing processes begin to appear as a large jigsaw of events. Every new

discovery or new interpretation of a historical event generates new avenues of investigation into

the past. An example that supports this claim is the recent reinterpretation of the Tulsa Race

Massacre of 1921. For decades, this violent annihilation of one of the most vibrant and affluent

black neighborhoods in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was a hidden storyline, consciously excluded from the

national historical memory. In the first reports, the massacre was mentioned as a race riot where

both sides were at fault for the killings. However, over the years, with the advancement in

technology revealing survivor accounts and classified documents from the government, the story

began to change a lot. The new evidence has not only answered the established questions in the

investigation but also contributed to elaborating further questions about race relations in early

twentieth-century America (Messer, Beamon and Bell 52). Instead of discouraging curiosity,

such investigations have continued this process and reignited national interest in exploring the

systemic forces of racial violence at play during this period and their consequences. As such, it

can be surmised that the pursuit of knowledge in history does not necessarily weaken our sense

of wonder but rather solidifies our appreciation of the unknown resulting in further inquiry into

the past.

It can, on the contrary, be said that knowledge acquisition in the field of history often destroys

our sense of wonder, since facts drive away speculations and mysteries. Once historians, through

careful analysis of evidence, reconstruct events, those uncertainties that might have spawned

curiosity are resolved, leaving very little to be wondered at or imagined. This is often a

disappointing transition from mystery to clarity, allowing a mechanical or schematic perception

of historic events in which the subtlety and intricateness of human experience and emotion are

reduced to mere facts (Santiago and Dozono 176). As history becomes increasingly entrenched

within empirical data and established narratives, the sense of wonder about such events gradually

diminishes. A perfect example that supports this claim is the case of the wreckage of the Titanic,

as studied by historians such as Richard Corfield and Don Lynch. For years, after it sank, the

RMS Titanic had been a great tale of heroism and tragedy that underlined themes of social class

and human fallibility. However, as historians have utilized testimony from survivors, maritime

records, and modern forensic techniques, this mystery has become one of the best-documented

case studies in regard to maritime safety (Howard). Although this detailed examination is useful

for determining the events that contributed to the disaster, including the lack of lifeboats and

ignoring ice reports, it can also obscure the human cost of the disaster. What was initially a

compelling human story essentially evolved into an exercise in detailed analysis and the wonder

that was the Titanic could be reduced to a series of facts and statistics. Knowledge acquisition, in

this sense, strips the wonder associated with history, making the past an exercise in facts rather

than a deep examination of compelling events.

Natural Sciences

Knowledge within the natural sciences does not kill our sense of wonder but rather reveals the

intricate machinery behind the workings of the natural world. The deeper we are into scientific

inquiry; the more complex various phenomena are found to be. We develop an appreciation for

the beauty and nature of all living systems, and we become able to observe patterns and

relationships that we once did not realize existed. The more experts in the natural sciences learn

about the world, the more we find that each and every part fits into a broader context. Scientific

inquiry today inspires a culture of curiosity in such a way that it entices knowers to continue

seeking answers to our very basic questions of existence, hence cultivating in us a sense of

wonder (Jirout 1719). An interesting instance in physics that justifies such a case is quantum

entanglement. It can be defined as a phenomenon where a pair or more particles become so

interconnected that the state of one instantly influences the state of another despite the great

distance between the parties involved. Research into quantum entanglement has seen scientists

go further to probe into the foundational parts of reality and question how information can be

instantaneously transmitted from one particle to another. This has been demonstrated in

experiments such as those carried out by physicist Alain Aspect, where entangled particles have

been observed to behave in manners that extend beyond classical intuition and thereby have deep

implications for the view of the nature of reality itself (Collen). It is during this journey that our

amazement about the universe increases, whereby one finds the universe interlinked in a manner

that is not only counterintuitive but raises some real questions about the fabric of space and time.

Therefore, this example perfectly illustrates the claim that knowledge acquisition in this area of

knowledge increases our sense of wonder by revealing specific features of reality that ideally

facilitate further research into the nature of the universe.

Yet, one could argue that when it comes to the natural sciences, knowledge kills wonder, for in

the process, it fosters an obsession with empirical results and measurable outcomes at the

expense of greater mysteries of existence. The more scientific inquiry focuses on quantifiable

data and predictable models, the more the inherent complexity and unpredictability of the natural

world is obscured. This focus on empirical evidence can thereby create an environment in which

the space for wonder gets pushed to the margins since inquiry is often focused on the search for

definitive answers and quantifiable results. An example that can be used to support this claim is

in the area of synthetic biology, where experts are attempting to create life through processes

such as genetic engineering. While scientists interfere with the genetic codes in organisms to

design new forms of life, the bottom line is underlined in empirical results and measurable

outcomes (Almeida and Diogo 187). While this scientific inquiry indeed holds great potential to

help solve some of the major challenges facing humanity, such as food security and renewable

energy, this focus on quantitative output often eclipses profound philosophical and ethical

questions about the nature of life itself. Such an ability to create or alter life forms risks

solidifying a more static understanding of biology, one in which the living organisms would be

considered more for their usefulness or product value rather than as self-sustaining ecosystems.

In this way, one of the by-products of garnering knowledge through the investigation of synthetic

biology is, ironically, the loss of the wonder that originally drove one to be curious about the

outside world and even about life itself.

Conclusion

Ultimately, this analysis has revealed that knowledge acquisition in both the natural sciences and

history deepens our wonder through the revelation of greater complexities and opening up new

areas to be investigated. History in itself, as a field, allows one to unravel the layers of

experiences in the past, events interrelating with one another to better understand the whole

human experience. In a similar manner, the understanding of quantum entanglement and other

phenomena of the natural sciences opens perspectives that allow us to question our perception of

reality and the universe as a whole. At the same time, one might argue that knowledge

acquisition destroys our sense of wonder by reducing complex narratives in fields such as history

to mere facts. Therefore, based on this perspective, it is evident that the claim that the acquisition

of knowledge helps increase our sense of wonder can have deeper implications for knowledge

production. For example, it indicates the need to balance out empirical strictness with knowledge

of the unknown to create conditions wherein curiosity and inquiry may be fostered. Embracing

complexities and mysteries along the way will ensure that our sense of wonder grows with our

understanding and inspires future generations in their own explorations and inquiries in different

fields.

Works Cited

Almeida, Mary and Rui Diogo. "Human enhancement: Genetic engineering and evolution."

Evolution, Medicine and Public Health 19.1 (2019): 183-189.

Collen, Juliette. Alain Aspect, Nobel-winning father of quantum entanglement. 4 October 2022.

24 September 2024.

<https://phys.org/news/2022-10-alain-aspect-nobel-winning-father-quantum.html>.

Howard, Harry. Historian insists that Captain Edward Smith wasn't reckless. 22 April 2021. 23

September 2024.

<https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9494729/Expert-debunks-myths-Titanic-Histo

rian-insists-Captain-Edward-Smith-wasnt-reckless.html>.

Jirout, Jamie J. "Supporting Early Scientific Thinking Through Curiosity." Frontiers in

Psychology 11.1 (2020): 1717-1732.

Messer, C. M., K. Beamon and P. A. Bell. "The Tulsa riot of 1921: Collective violence and racial

frames." The Western Journal of Black Studies 37.1 (2023): 50-60.

Santiago, Maribel and Tadashi Dozono. "History is critical: Addressing the false dichotomy

between historical inquiry and criticality." Theory & Research in Social Education 50.2

(2022): 173-195.

September 24, 2024

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Academic level:

IB Student

Type of paper:

IB ToK Essay

Discipline:

History and natural sciences

Citation:

MLA

Pages:

6 (1600 words)

Spacing:

Double