Essay 6

Essay 6: Imagination

Let’s begin with a simple explanation of imagination. I Googled it and this definition popped up.

“The faculty or action of forming new ideas, or images or concepts of external objects not present to the senses.”

I am not using this definition to establish authority. I am using it because it will do for what I want to say. It is actually a little flawed because it implies ideas can be present to the senses. But I am using it because it has the elements in it that I need for this essay. Imagination is where (new) ideas, images, or concepts form in the mind. If I say “imagine a tree” you can picture one whether you can see one or not. If I say, “make that tree purple with yellow stripes”, you can do that as well even though you have never seen such a tree.

If you Google “imagination etymology” you will find out that imagination comes from a Latin verb imaginari which means “picture to oneself”. That is a pretty good definition also. One can pick nits here as well. When you imagine something are you really picturing it or is picturing just the closest word we have to explain what is going on.

Imagination often gets a bad rap. If a six-year-old tells his mother that the family dog just ate the family cat, the mother might ask, “are you sure you didn’t just imagine that?” The implication is that there are things that are true and there are things that you just imagined. Brace yourself because I am going to make a huge leap and tell you that everything you think is real, is actually just in your imagination. Yes, I know. I have some explaining to do.

If I ask you to picture a tree, I am really asking you to picture an instance of the concept tree. If you look out your window and actually see a tree, you are seeing an instance that belongs to the concept of tree. But that concept is nowhere to be found in the real world. It exists only in your imagination.

Next let’s say that you have a real tree outside your window, and I asked you to look at it. If I say, later, “Do you recall that tree?” You would say “Sure.” If I then ask, “What kind of tree was it, or if a squirrel lived in it, or how high off the ground are the lowest branches?” You would not be able to answer that. This is because, the instance of the tree in your head is a very imperfect copy of the instance that exists outside your window.

Do you ever have an argument in your head with a friend or loved one? If you are going to buy a new car, do you rehearse what you are going to say before you go? These, as well as many other things, just occur in your imagination.

Philosophers have argued about this for millennia. Fortunately for you, I just gave a few examples so I could keep this short. But my takeaway point is that reality vs imagination is not a dichotomy. They are the same thing.

If your reality exists only in your imagination, you would think that imagination would be pretty important. And indeed, it is. People with better imaginations can adjust more easily to change. They are better at anticipating what is going to happen. They make better decisions. And they are better at seeing somebody else’s point of view. They are, in short, better off than people who do not have much imagination. So, imagination is important to your well-being. In Essay 5, I emphasized the importance of courses in logic, statistics, calculus, programming, and history. But I have to ask, “why don’t we have courses in how to develop a disciplined imagination?” We could make better decisions, better anticipate the future, adjust more easily to change, and see other people’s point of view. Yet we don’t have any rigorous courses to teach these things.

Why? I have no idea. Will we, at some point in the future? Probably.

This essay is about 740 words. And the recording is about 6 minutes long.

Send an email to me at drjohnartz@gmail.com if you have a comment on any of my essays. And please check out my website at DrJohnArtz.com to see other things I have written.