578: In Awe of Wonder

More at www.philosophytalk.org/shows/awe-wonder.

René Descartes said that the purpose of wonderment is “to enable us to learn and retain in our memory things of which we were formerly unaware.” He also said that those who are not inclined to wonder are “ordinarily very ignorant.” So what exactly is wonder, and how is it different from awe? Is wonder at the core of what drives us to search for novel insights? And can we suffer from an excess of wonderment? Josh and Ray stand in awe of Helen de Cruz from St. Louis University, author of "Wonderstruck: How Wonder and Awe Shape the Way We Think" (forthcoming).