Encouraging Communication Through Imagination

[Philosophy Now]

Shudong Chen communicates about the importance of communication.

https://philosophynow.org/issues/89/Encouraging_Communication_Through_Imagination

[amity_blu]

An intriguing title. It could just as easily be 'Encouraging Imagination Through Communication'.
I'm curious and want to read/discuss more. Pulling out a passage:

'For Smith the most devastating negative impact of division of labor is for humanity to be deprived of the “proper use of the intellectual faculties” in this sort of way (p.740). And for Smith, “a man without the proper use of the intellectual faculties of a man, is, if possible, more contemptible than even a coward.” So what can we do to alleviate this negative impact of the modern economic system?

Use Your Imagination
To answer that question we must go back to basics, and keep communication alive in ways that Smith might himself emphasize, that is, by means of imagination, which will enable us to sympathize as engaged and impartial spectators – the goal of Smith’s moral philosophy. Imagination can significantly improve every conceivable aspect of our lives, because neither sympathy nor impartiality can function without imagination.

Imagination can also mean keeping alive our skeptical minds by transforming artificial boundaries. The wall in the poem ‘Mending Wall’ by Robert Frost is a good metaphor here. It was not only built by Rousseau’s property-making individual, but also seems to be mended by generation after generation of those who hold it almost as a sacred relic of inalienable cultural identity. The wall also stands as an indispensable medium of social bonds, communication, and collaboration. The wall confirms social convention (“Good fences makes good neighbors”), but it also apparently promotes critical thinking. For example, the poem’s narrator asks, “What was I walling in or walling out?” This is also what we are to ask of our own minds.'

The importance of Imagination. It helps to form empathy with potential for improved understanding of others.
We meet and explore ideas via social media. We learn about other ways of life and thinking via novels, philosophy, magazines. How we react and interact matters, especially when there are differences of opinion.
Do we stay in our own little bubbles and try to burst the others? Or do we watch and be amazed at a soapy merging? Sharing space.

How do we capture the imagination and interest of others? WRITING IN CAPITALS? Shouting, or quietly listening to what they have to say first...so many ways. Using language. Images. Rhythm and movement in music.

'Mending Wall' - just one poem to consider, read or listen to:
Robert Frost reads “Mending Wall” | Powerful Life Poetry | Remastered
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOT4NUKBNIU

Do we need to analyse a poem to understand its meaning? It depends on how deep we need/want to go.
Sometimes, it's enough simply to engage the senses, first impressions. I was struck by the fact that it was written in 1914. Did he write it with WW1 in mind?

Here's a guide:
How a poem about a rural stone wall quickly became part of debates on nationalism, international borders, and immigration. By Austin Allen
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/articl ... nding-wall

I'm not sure if the writing of a poem is an effective way to communicate an argument. What, if any, was Robert Frost trying to make? Is it obvious on a first read or do we need to have the 'intellectual faculties' Adam Smith talks of?
Imagination and Communication combined, we learn more by sharing in a careful way. Creating in awe-ful plays.

Before I built a wall I’d ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,

[Phil8659]

Shudong Chen communicates about the importance of communication.

https://philosophynow.org/issues/89/Enc ... magination

WTFIT?
I would have thought one encourages communication through literacy.