The wonder log

It is owing to wonder that men both now begin and at first began to philosophize, Aristotle writes in the Metaphysics: philosophy begins in wonder, when we stop finding things obvious. This exercise keeps that beginning alive: recording what puzzles you, and regularly following one of those questions for the sole pleasure of understanding.

1. Keep a page, on paper or on your phone, for your moments of wonder: a question of no immediate use that crossed your mind (why does the moon not fall? where does that word come from? why is this custom practiced?). Write it down as it is, without judging it.
2. Once a week, pick one and give it thirty minutes: read, dig, reformulate, until you understand a little better, with no further aim.
3. End by noting what the answer changed for you: often nothing useful, and that is no failure, it is the share of understanding for its own sake.

as it comes; one 30-minute exploration a week