Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere. Albert Einstein The man who has no imagination has no wings. Muhammad Ali Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere. Carl Sagan Everything you can imagine is real. Pablo Picasso Imagination creates reality. Richard Wagner The most imaginative people are the most credulous, for them everything is possible. Alexander Chase We imagine that we want to escape our selfish and commonplace existence, but we cling desperately to our chains. Anne Sullivan
I can't disagree But that really doesn't answer the question of this thread " Purpose " is the key word here , the purpose of imagination ?
N Personally I think what those people I quoted answered your question very well and that is why I posted their quotes about "what imagination is" question. They all have differing points of view about what purposes imagination have and , to me, seemed to be spot on with their assertions.
Imagination is required to provide for advances in our knowledge. Without imagination a person would always accept the mainstream views of the laws of physics & there would be no advance in our knowledge. The downside of imagination is that it can include impossible views which are often tenaciously maintained in spite of contrary evidence.
Imagination is the time on our hands, imagination is before the maths, imagination is thinking about what imagination is.
A lack of imagination is a dangerous romance...how do I know this, you may ask? If you are a man like me, ask your woman what she thinks of a predictable relationship?
Hope. When you strip it down to it's bare form Life is gritty and bleak. So in order to cope we imagine. Purpose of imagination then: to get us through today and to tomorrow.
Imagination is evolutionary, like flying or burrowing or just about any kind of instinctive behaviour. Humans have imagination in spades, probably because of the relatively large ratio of cortex to rest-of-brain. Imagine being cold and hungry; wouldn't it be nice to have food and a source of warmth? That's how and why humans developed the ability to use fire and store food, which incidently lead to agriculture and then large populations living in cities. We did it because we can "imagine a future" in more detail and much further ahead than other animals with brains can, so we plan ahead more efficiently, so we are "more successful". And, we assign a "purpose" to it, although this is again, our imagination . . .
Imagination, Speculation and Innovation are all as much a part of science as knowledge is. But obviously not all Imagination can useful or beneficial to mankind. The scientific method and peer review helps in sorting the shit from the clay.
Indeed. "Purpose" suggests an intent, that we were somehow given imagination to reach an end point. My view is that we developed imagination because it offered an evolutionary advantage, enabling us to advance our thinking, to adapt, to forecast and look ahead to what might be, so that eventualities can be planned for. The use of that ability might have meant we survived an imminent threat where others could not. So I do not think it has a purpose, per se. It is just what it is, the ability to put two concepts together within our mind without having to physically do it. It has uses, of course, but use does not equate to purpose. I think those quotes earlier give an answer to "Of what use is imagination" but I don't think it answers "what's the purpose..." as to me that is making assumption that there is purpose.
Because we need it to think things through , it brings an understanding , to a point Imagination can't replace experience but imagination can bring on a better understanding of which you have no experience
All of the Great Apes (humans, orangutans, the two species of gorilla and the two species of chimpanzee) have qualitatively much larger forebrains (in proportion to body size) than most other vertebrates. But the human forebrain is about 4 times the size of the runner-up, the chimps. Because of this, our behavior is much more the result of conscious analysis, decision-making and creativity (all of which, especially creativity, have a large vector of imagination) than other animals. Our gigantic forebrain is nothing more or less than the result of evolution. Evolution just happens (like shit Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!), the result of mutations that just happen to increase the probability of an animal surviving long enough to reproduce... and sheer chance. The universe is governed by laws, but to suggest that these laws have a purpose is cosmic anthropomorphism.
When I look at something I try not to understand how it was made but using my imagination find ways I can improve upon its function/design.
