Whether young or old, we can get surprised. Sometimes by events, sometimes by ourselves. Surprises can come from all angles. I have loved this passage from G.K. Chesterton for a long time:
This is proved by the fact that when we are very young children we do not need fairy tales: we only need tales. Mere life is interesting enough. A child of seven is excited by being told that Tommy opened a door and saw a dragon. But a child of three is excited by being told that Tommy opened a door. Boys like romantic tales; but babies like realistic tales--because they find them romantic. In fact, a baby is about the only person, I should think, to whom a modern realistic novel could be read without boring him.
Chesterton, G. K. (Gilbert Keith). Orthodoxy (p. 46). Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition.
Don't you just love being reminded of how a little child can find anything, everything, fascinating, astonishing?
I have been mulling over a notion that eventually research and theory will come to highlight little kids' minds and approaches to life as real genius and relegate Einstein and Pasteur and Galileo to lower ranks of merely good observers and thinkers.
As we get older, we can come to think that we understand ourselves, our partners and relatives, our lives. But change is still around. For one thing, we are aware today that wrinkles and weakness can also mean difficulty with memory and recall, even attention:
Two elderly women were out driving in a large car - both could barely see over the dashboard. As they were cruising along, they came to an intersection. The stoplight was red, but they just went on through The woman in the passenger seat thought to herself "I must be losing it. I could have sworn we just went through a red light." After a few more minutes, they came to another intersection and the light was red again. Again, they went right through. The woman in the passenger seat was almost sure that the light had been red but was really concerned that she was losing it. She was getting nervous. At the next intersection, sure enough, the light was red and they went on through. So, she turned to the other woman and said, "Mildred, did you know that we just ran through three red lights in a row? You could have killed us both!" Mildred turned to her and said, "Oh, am I driving ?"
Hopper, Kiven. One Hundred and One Dirty Nasty Disgusting Jokes You'll Love Reading (Kindle Locations 2281-2282). iUniverse. Kindle Edition.
I realize that as I age and my memories of ideas mix with memories of events, I may get confused. After all, I did have hundreds of students I never saw while they all saw and heard me because I was teaching on television. So, if some cute woman repeatedly acts as though she likes me and I do indeed feel something for her, I can imagine needing to inquire "Did you and I ever have an affair?" When you are young, you may think that outstanding moments of romance could never, ever slip off into the fog of yesteryears but I advise you not to be too sure.
