Wander More But Let’s Not Wonder Less

By: Neerja Caprihan

There is a popular phrase ‘Wander Often, Wonder Always’ that encourages people to step out of one’s comfort zone and physically explore the world around them. At the same time, the second part of the phrase underscores how not to lose the spark of curiosity inside us that enables us to look at our human lives with amazement. 

With much of the world becoming more accessible following the advancements in technology and communications, the wandering instinct is at its peak. We can travel at the drop of a hat, be it for leisure, family, business, religion, health or sometimes, for no logical reason at all. The last purpose, or lack of purpose, depending how one chooses to view it, is in reality a silent nod to a specific though subtle purpose – that of rejuvenation of human mind, body, senses and spirit. Hence the choice of the word ‘Wander’ which suggests moving around without a fixed destination and getting away from a rigid, predictable routine.

The bigger challenge is the second part of the phrase – that of wondering always. Of keeping an open, curious mind everywhere we go, asking questions, appreciating the small moments, accepting the unknown and feeling a sense of innocent awe about life instead of entertaining biases or making judgments. How much of this can a machine or algorithm do for us, and if they do, what is left of the ‘human’ in us?

As the AI fever grips the world, and we rejoice in outsourcing the humdrum tasks to the sweet-talking agentic assistant, we must stay alert to what we actively choose to outsource beyond the humdrum. It has been that same sense of wonder and capability that has made humans invent things and processes that were intended to better our lives. But now those creations pose a threat to humanity by tempting us to relegate our faculties to the back-benches. The curiosity to know, the process to search, the rationality to filter, the resilience to look past a failure and the deep satisfaction of discovery – are all aspects that make us human. 

We need to draw our own lines around how much we are willing to dumb down all that makes us, US. Support has to feel different from takeover. Our freedom to choose needs to stay exactly that, a freedom. Like the freedom we offer you, with the support that you need.

There are memes going around that it’s a joke on mankind that the computers have so far been asking humans to prove that they are not robots. Maybe we should begin asking ourselves to prove that we are indeed humans. Let’s wander more, but let’s continue to wonder even more.

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