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Sense Of Wonder
In science fiction journalism, a sense of wonder (sometimes comically written as ''sensawunda'') is a specific, often desirable, intellectual and emotional state evoked in the reader by the genre. __TOC__ Definitions This entry focuses on one specific use of the phrase "sense of wonder." This phrase is widely used in contexts that have nothing to do with science fiction. The following relates to the use of "sense of wonder" within the context of science fiction. In '' Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction'' the term ''sense of wonder'' is defined as follows: Jon Radoff has characterised a sense of wonder as an emotional reaction to the reader suddenly confronting, understanding, or seeing a concept anew in the context of new information. In the introductory section of his essay 'On the Grotesque in Science Fiction', Istvan Csicsery-Ronay Jr., Professor of English, DePauw University, states: John Clute and Peter Nicholls associate the experience with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Science Fiction
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space exploration, time travel, Parallel universes in fiction, parallel universes, and extraterrestrials in fiction, extraterrestrial life. The genre often explores human responses to the consequences of projected or imagined scientific advances. Science fiction is related to fantasy (together abbreviated wikt:SF&F, SF&F), Horror fiction, horror, and superhero fiction, and it contains many #Subgenres, subgenres. The genre's precise Definitions of science fiction, definition has long been disputed among authors, critics, scholars, and readers. Major subgenres include hard science fiction, ''hard'' science fiction, which emphasizes scientific accuracy, and soft science fiction, ''soft'' science fiction, which focuses on social sciences. Other no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Sublime (literary)
The sublime in literature refers to the use of language and description that excites the senses of the reader to a degree that exceeds the ordinary limits of that individual's capacities. Origin The earliest text on the sublime was written sometime in the first or third century AD by the Greek writer (pseudo-) Longinus (literature), Longinus in his work On the Sublime (, ''Perì hýpsous''). Longinus defines the literary sublime as "excellence in language", the "expression of a great spirit" and the power to provoke "ecstasy" in one's readers. Longinus holds that the goal of a writer should be to produce a form of ecstasy. Longinus additionally defines the ideal audience for the sublime, which needs to be High culture, refined and cultivated. According to Longinus, only such an audience is able to judge the relative sublimity of a work. This attitude can be seen as inherently aristocratic, given that the audience Longinus desires must be free from the low and vulgar thoughts t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Overview Effect
The overview effect is a cognitive shift reported by some astronauts while viewing the Earth from outer space, space. Researchers have characterized the effect as "a state of awe with self-transcendence, self-transcendent qualities, precipitated by a particularly striking visual stimulus". The most prominent common aspects of personally experiencing the Earth from space are appreciation and perception of beauty, unexpected and even overwhelming emotion, and an increased sense of connection to other people and the Earth as a whole. The effect can cause changes in the observer's Self-schema, self concept and Value (ethics and social sciences)#Value system, value system, and can be Spiritual transformation, transformative. Immersive virtual reality simulations have been designed to try to induce the overview effect in earthbound participants. Characteristics Broadly, Yaden et al. (2016) state that the most prominent common aspects of the astronauts' experience were appreciation and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Numinous
Numinous () means "arousing spiritual or religious emotion; mysterious or awe-inspiring";Collins English Dictionary - 7th ed. - 2005 also "supernatural" or "appealing to the aesthetic sensibility." The term was given its present sense by the German theologian and philosopher Rudolf Otto in his influential 1917 German book ''The Idea of the Holy''. He also used the phrase ''mysterium tremendum'' as another description for the phenomenon. Otto's concept of the numinous influenced thinkers including Carl Jung, Mircea Eliade, and C. S. Lewis. It has been applied to theology, psychology, religious studies, literary analysis, and descriptions of psychedelic experiences. Etymology ''Numinous'' was derived in the 17th century from the Latin ''numen'', meaning "nod" and thus, in a transferred (figurative, metaphorical) sense, "divine will, divine command, divinity or majesty." Numinous is etymology, etymologically unrelated to Immanuel Kant's ''noumenon'', a Greek term referring to an unk ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Wonder (emotion)
Wonder is an emotion comparable to surprise that people feel when perceiving something rare or unexpected (but not threatening). It has historically been seen as an important aspect of human nature, specifically being linked with curiosity and the drive behind intellectual exploration. Wonder is also often compared to the emotion of awe but awe implies fear or respect rather than joy. Science fiction can produce a sense of wonder. Philosophical musings The first philosophers to discuss the concept of wonder were Plato and Aristotle, who believed that it was the basis of the birth of philosophy. French philosopher, mathematician, scientist, and writer René Descartes described admiration as one of the primary emotions because he claimed that emotions, in general, are reactions to unexpected phenomena. He noted that when people first encounter a surprising or new object that is "far different from what we knew before, or from what we supposed it should have been, we admire it, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Judgment Day
The Last Judgment is a concept found across the Abrahamic religions and the ''Frashokereti'' of Zoroastrianism. Christianity considers the Second Coming of Jesus, Jesus Christ to entail the final judgment by God in Abrahamic religions, God of all people who have ever lived, resulting in the heaven, salvation of a few and the hell, damnation of many. Some Christian denominations believe Christian universalism, most people will be saved, some believe Predestination in Calvinism, most people will be damned, and some believe Predestination in Catholicism, the number of the saved and of the damned is unknown. The concept of the Last Judgment is found in all the canonical gospels, particularly in the Gospel of Matthew. The Christian tradition is also followed by Islam, where it is mentioned in many chapters of the Quran, according to some interpretations. The Last Judgment has inspired numerous artistic depictions, including painting, sculpture and evangelical work. In Judaism In Ju ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
