Wonder

According to Plato and Aristotle, the state of wonder or astonishment induced in the mind when it perceives something strange or not well understood, is the cause or instigation of philosophy. The contemplative aspect, the inclusion of the intellect in the experience of wonder is said to give this state of attention its specifically human (as opposed to animal) quality. It is this sense of wonder that draws together great scientists and great mystics, the sense of the "un-knowability" of the universe which increases the more one knows.