Wonder

[ehowton]

I love running across words I never knew existed - that defined things I thought had no definition. And usually, I find them completely by accident. Well, almost. They're usually tucked away somewhere in plain sight amidst synonymous etymology. In this case, an avatar I've been seeking for some months - a visual representation of wonder which

Comments

[ehowton]

Interesting you mention the over-schedule; my wife is convinced that's becoming an increasing problem. I hadn't thought about it being connected to this very thing.

(And I assume you tried the Pop Rocks and Coke? We did.)

[suzanne1945]

This "not fearing failure" is tantamount to one's learning processes. In my book "Bringing Math Home", I tried to instill that idea in working with children. Learning the process of problem solving (which must include trial and error ergo possible failure)is so much more important than always getting the "right" answer. True, ultimately, as adults we need to strive until we reach the "right" answer, but without learning the process of trial and error, no correct answer can be found either. I regret that "No Child Left Behind" largely destroyed this valuable part of learning and growing.

A fantastic letter to your children.

[michelle1963]

It was quite disheartening when you told of your nine and ten year old students who were already so afraid of getting the wrong answer they didn't want to try. What is the matter with our society?

[suzanne1945]

Yes, it was so sad to see the change in children's thinking/problem solving ability from the 1990s to after No Child Left Behind. Not only were children doing much more critical thinking in the 90s (at least in Kansas), they were so much more engaged in school.
Math was the favorite subject, not the most hated as it had been prior to this time and since NCLB. Totally different teaching methods!

[ehowton]

A fantastic letter to your children.

Thank you!

[michelle1963]

How we behave doesn't have to be more or less important than what we do, but it certainly needs to be as important.

Agreed!

I've been at work in an emergency room during a full blown code - definite life or death situation. Doctors bark orders brusquely, rudely, and angrily. Everyone's adrenaline is running full-force, and everyone understands the decorum of usual behavior is suspended until the crisis is over. No ER nurse ever goes to the corner and cries because the doctor yelled, "Hurry up, God-damnit!"

That said, anything short of life or death is simply not worthy of indulging oneself in rude, angry behavior. I guarantee that if someone behaves like an ass during a non-emergency situation then whatever it is that person is trying to achieve will mean little to me. It will be the obnoxious behavior I remember once the interaction is long past.

[michelle1963]

Everyone is always under some illusion of justifying their behavior because of a fabricated emergency; they dropped their Blackberry - ITS AN EMERGENCY!

I think people mix up true "life and death" situations with situations that they simply don't like. I don't consider finding myself in a situation that I don't like an emergency. Dropped Blackberry. Yeah, not fun. Life or death? Nope.

It would go better both for the person who finds himself in a less than optimal situation and those who must deal with him, if the person in question could cope with a modicum of class. Whether a person gets angry or retains his cool, the situation will get resolved. However, if he engenders good will, then resolving the situation may actually go faster and more smoothly.

[suzanne1945]

Exactly! Anger has the potential of producing fear in individuals. Fear actually lessens a person's ability to think clearly. So often the person yelling gets the opposite of what he/she is striving for.

[michelle1963]

The word I ran across was neoteny. It means the retention of childlike attributes in adulthood: idealism, experimentation and wonder.

The biggest obstacle to achieving neoteny is fear. As you said, fear of failure. That is huge!

I would add in fear of rejection. How many wonderful ideas get set aside for fear that the idea itself will be rejected? And that's before a person even gets around to actually testing the idea, having to face the fear of failure.

Let's include fear of looking stupid. I can't tell you how many times, I've said to someone, "Isn't this cool?" emphasizing my fascination, only to be met with abject lack of understanding, because not only do they not find whatever I'm sharing fascinating, the are somewhat abhorred by my child-like wonder. For a lot of people that would be child-like wonder killer right then and there. (I just feel pity for them. Me? I'm all about the "How cool is that?")

[ehowton]

From what I remember of Thomas Edison, experimentation (read failure after failure) was the cornerstone of his success.