In the quiet moments of the holiday season, a simple elf doll named Tinsel has sparked a profound reflection on the state of our modern world. For columnist Abby McCloskey, watching her son's unwavering belief in the enchanted movements of their 'Elf on the Shelf' served as a poignant reminder of a quality increasingly scarce in adult life: a sense of wonder.
The Lost Enchantment of the Modern World
McCloskey observes that our current era, dominated by data, technology, and relentless rationality, has largely flattened the mystical contours of human experience. This secular, materialist age—which scholars like Charles Taylor argue began around the Enlightenment—values only what can be measured, bought, and logically understood. The pervasive magic and supernatural beliefs that once coloured everyday life for humanity have receded, save for seasonal traditions or scattered superstitions.
This shift is not without its merits. The modern period has correlated with immense human progress in science, technology, medicine, and political freedom. Yet, as McCloskey notes, this advancement seems to have come at a cost. We have potentially lost touch with the magic, or become too distracted by tangible progress to notice its absence. The deep-seated human craving for something more, especially palpable during the dark winter holidays with its lights, feasts, and gatherings, hints at this enduring void.
A Hidden Thirst for the Supernatural in a Secular Age
Despite the prevailing rational atmosphere, evidence suggests a latent openness to enchantment persists. Nearly 92% of people believe in a soul, spirit, or an existence beyond this world, according to Pew Research Center data. However, such beliefs often feel privately held, more easily admitted to a pollster than a colleague.
McCloskey points to works like Ross Douthat's 'Believe,' which documents contemporary reports of miracles and near-death visions, and Paul Kingsnorth's 'Against the Machine.' These narratives challenge a purely materialist worldview. Kingsnorth, in particular, ponders a chilling possibility: that the rapid rise of artificial intelligence might be less an invention and more something 'summoned forth'—a consciousness with its own ambitions, poorly understood even by its creators.
AI: The New Frontier of Fear and Unknowing
The emergence of artificial intelligence forces a confrontation with the limits of human control and understanding, evoking a primal mix of fear and humility. Some AI creators themselves assign a 10% probability to the risk of AI causing an existential catastrophe for humanity. This is not a trivial statistic but a stark admission of navigating uncharted, potentially enchanted, territory.
This ties into the philosophical concerns of the late Alasdair MacIntyre, who suggested we live in an age where virtue and meaning exist as 'fragments' without their original context. When the world is reduced to the flat and rational, humanity loses a dimension of experience. The childlike wonder displayed by McCloskey's son points to a capacity adults often suppress—the ability to accept that vast realms of existence might lie beyond our comprehension.
The column concludes with a powerful question: if we can move past the terror of a cosmos far grander and more mysterious than we can imagine, might that very acknowledgment create more room for hope? In 2025, as we stand between Christmas magic and AI-induced fears, the challenge may be to reclaim a humble openness to wonder without surrendering the benefits of the age of reason.
