A Sense of Wonder

You wonder. How is it possible to put a billion transistors into a slice of silicon thinner than a candy wrapper and smaller than a ten-centavo coin? You wonder how it can perform trillions of calculation per second. Your mind wanders into the factory as you try to imagine the machines that made this possible.

Well, because people share your sense of wonder, microchips of this magnitude and power are a reality today.

You wonder. Is color real? Is the blue I see the same blue that my friend sees? Do colors tell me something about the things around me? You wonder about the rainbow and the how light dances on the water during an exceptionally clear day.

Well, because others that came before you have wondered as much, the science of spectroscopy was born. Now the study of heavenly bodies becomes more precise and the healing of human bodies is made easier.

You wonder. Is there is anything other than gas, liquid or solid that exists in the universe? Now you know that plasma is the fourth state of matter and that it is the state of most matter in interstellar space.

Finally you wonder, like so many great minds have before you, whether the atom is really the basic building block of matter. This sense of wonder has led scientists to build complex and expensive machines to dissect the very essence of matter. That’s how they discovered quarks.

Children are often called “makulit” because they ask a lot of questions. They want to know so many things about the world around them. “Bakit kaya” is often heard springing from their mouths. A discovery is often punctuated by gleeful exclamations of “kaya pala!”

The sad thing is that m any of us lose this sense of wonder as we grow older. We take things for granted or we simply lose the will to wonder. A lucky few, however, never lose this and keep it well into their old age. Wondering and thinking are pleasurable daily activities that make them happy and alive.

A sense of wonder is worth keeping and enriching. It’s a treasure that can never be taken away from us. It is a bright flame that will throw a ray of light on dark paths and alleys. With a healthy sense of wonder we will never lose our way. - Bato Balani