a function of being wise?

[KuaiLe]

Dear Teachers,
From Mirror, Mirror:
"The world grows and shrinks at once," said Cesare. "Is this a function of my being wise beyond my years, or is the age in which we live contorting itself with confounding knowledge?"
Does "The world grows and shrinks at once" mean "the world changes quickly"? When he said "Is this a function of...", does "this" refer to "The world grows and shrinks at once"? What does he mean by "Is this a function of my being wise beyond my years"? And what does "confounding knowledge" (of the age in which we live) mean?

[Tdol]

It means that changes are contradictory and his understanding of this is from his greater wisdom, though it might be because the world produces contradictory knowledge.

[KuaiLe]

Thanks! But what do you mean by "the world produces contradictory knowledge"?