The Imagination

The Imagination

The Thinking Process 4

What is imagination? Wikipedia defines it as the mental capacity to form images, sensations or concepts that are not present to the senses, acting as the foundation for creativity, problem solving and empathy. Other definitions are very similar – a glorious form of speculative thought, a form of cognitive skill, etc.

That probably sums up the concept as we think of it, but what if it’s more than that?

When we think about imagination, we tend to think of all those marvellous things that imagination has created; wonderful, inspiring music, magical movies, intriguing and thought-provoking literature, and all the amazing art around the world. But imagination has created much more than that. We see it in the architecture around us, and in all the machinery and creations humans have made. Would any scientific theories have ever been made without imagination to help create them?

And what about comedy? Every joke, every pun, and even every riddle is a work of imagination.

Imagination is something we all have, even those who don’t believe they do. We all react to various stimuli. They bring thoughts, ideas, or just images. What was that noise? Why do I feel so hot? When is the ambulance coming? Where will I find that Easter egg? All these thoughts bring more ideas or images. And they’re all driven by imagination. Yes, knowledge will have a part to play, but almost always, so does imagination. So, our imagination is very closely tied to our emotions. Just as our emotions can affect our imagination (fear imagines danger), so can our imagination affect our emotions (that dream countryside inspires desire).

Dare I suggest that the combination influences almost every thought and action.

Just as any new idea requires imagination, any form of interpretation also uses imagination. Interpreting a story, whether written or oral, film or play? Interpreting reactions of other people. Yes, our knowledge and emotions will play their part, but so will imagination. Finding solutions to any problem will almost always require some imagination. Making any predictions will often require some imagination as well as knowledge. Even that skill we call empathy surely needs imagination to function.

Do even dreams need imagination?

So, if imagination is behind every new idea, then imagination has built the world we know. Every invention, every change was sparked by imagination. But we need to remember that even those ideas that failed still required imagination. This is something we often tend to neglect. The ideas may be right or wrong, good or bad, effective or not so effective. They were still formed using imagination.

Even criminal activity may require some imagination. What about that sophisticated robbery that needed months to plan? Unless, of course, they only exist in books or movies. Surely anyone performing any sort of hoax requires a certain amount of imagination. And how would those con artists exist without using imagination. Even lying can use imagination, not the basic denial, but the more elaborate lies.

Then, of course, we have propaganda? How would it even work without the use of imagination to form the ideas. In much the same vein, what about advertising? Advertisements are created by imagination and are almost always aimed at human emotions. Like the lies of the con men, advertising is about selling something.

So, the combination of emotion and imagination is behind every idea and improvement on those ideas that humans have ever made. And not just the improvements. It would also have been involved in every failed experiment, every political development, every division between races and cultures, every war, etc, etc, etc.

That means that imagination is far more basic, and far more influential, than that wonderful form of speculative thought we usually think it is.

How basic is imagination? Surely, it is the thing that makes us ask questions? How can we question if we don’t imagine that things may be different? Then our imagination will help us form a different, hopefully better, idea. If imagination is so basic, surely it is part of our emotional self, rather than just a cognitive skill we developed. Without it, without the ability to question, how far would even human thought have developed? Would we still be thinking in vague images and nothing more?

So, my argument would be that ‘intelligence’ is the skill we developed in the form of those cognitive skills. Imagination, on the other hand, is an innate part of the brain that enabled us to develop those skills.

Of course, if imagination is an innate part of the brain, then I would argue that more animals than just humans might possess it.

But, surely, with just a little imagination, that was obvious.