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