“Look it up,” he said. “You have the world at your fingertips.”
“The Age of Wonder is over,” I muttered, almost disgusted at the thought.
Then he said, “Please tell me you’re not going to follow a deep dive of anti-Semitism and ‘just war’ discussions with ‘The Age of Wonder is Over.’ Merry Christmas. Ugh.”
Marriage can be complicated sometimes.
There was a time not so long ago when we’d think about a question and be left wondering. Now we can know almost anything we ask. Yes, even stupid stuff. Did Gene Hackman like doing Hoosiers? What is the meaning behind Gordon Lightfoot’s Rainy-Day People or Ricky Nelson’s Garden Party? Was Churchill’s secretary Miss Layton real? What’s worse, perhaps, is that other people have clearly asked about the same stupid stuff before we did.
If you’d told me in high school that in the year 2025, I’d have a powerful computer so tiny it would fit in my hand, and that I’d carry it in my pocket or feel lost without it—a computer so powerful it could access all the known knowledge in the universe, I would have been stunned.
Mock Omniscience.
Kind of. That’s a scary thought.
Among the dangers of AI (for sure!) is the pride of man to think we can know everything.
“The Age of Wonder is Over.” How sad, I’d even think that!
Then I read a short post from Glenn Beck.
“The fact that practically the whole world stopped to look up at the Northern Lights is a reminder that wonder still exists outside the algorithm.”
Huh. Wonder still exists … outside of the known, outside of the knowable.
“Who among the gods is like You, LORD? Who is like You– majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?” (Exodus 15:11)
Please consider joining me for my 2025 Advent Devotional Series “God of Wonders” as we explore the wonder of God in the birth of His Son Jesus Christ. Advent begins on November 30, 2025. You can read the devotionals here or on Facebook. Wonder does exist outside of algorithms, artificial intelligence, and mock omniscience…if you search for it.