Philosophy Now Forum

Do you have an active imagination?
In a creative line of work - arts, innovation or design - imagination is necessary. But in other cases, it could be a drawback.
An imaginative person in a challenging situation, for example, might see of perils and obstacles that don't really exist. A more down-to-earth person might be better able to assess the real problem and find a practical solution. Someone who is prone to anxiety might give him or herself unnecessary wakeful nights, conjuring up potential disasters that may never happen.

On the other hand, imagination can be entertaining.

So either chase butterflies or jar them for classification, or are you saying it's okay to have fun chasing them as long as they are properly identified? What if we don't like butterflies, can we chase other insects? Maybe a little doodle bug instead.

That's a very good question, Skip. I can see imagination as both an asset and liability, but then, in certain situations, any trait could be one or the other. Question; do you think imagination and intuition are interrelated?

I agree with what has been said... I think it can go both ways. I IMAGINE it to be a bit like riding a dragon! When directed one way, imagination can soar to great heights, providing views to solutions and whole new worlds. When it gets away from you, it can plunge into dark tangled places that are hard to escape from. It can be hard to control. Often, it seems that what we imagine, we then believe to be real/true! So then we have to be able to imagine something ELSE, to escape from the trap/reality we've imagined ourselves into!

Imagination is a positive force. It is the father of all innovation, necessity being the mother. In order to change the world you have to imagine that it can be any other way that the way it is.

Anxiety is a different monster, though related. Of course anxiety is detrimental but it is an excess of caution, fearlessness being the deficiency. The best is the mean.

Skip wrote:Do you have an active imagination?

In some circumstances, yes, but not when faced with the blank page.

Skip wrote:In a creative line of work - arts, innovation or design - imagination is necessary. But in other cases, it could be a drawback.
An imaginative person in a challenging situation, for example, might see of perils and obstacles that don't really exist. A more down-to-earth person might be better able to assess the real problem and find a practical solution. Someone who is prone to anxiety might give him or herself unnecessary wakeful nights, conjuring up potential disasters that may never happen.

Agreed.

Skip wrote:On the other hand, imagination can be entertaining.

It sure can. Consider my dog. She has been trained to follow orders and her creative efforts (holes, chewing) were discouraged. She has been bred to seek instructions, which she enjoys as mental stimulation. When the humans are out she and her friend simply shut down and wait, often looking out windows or the back gate. By contrast, a wolf left alone in the backyard would have no problem of thinking of things to do since that's largely what it's always done.

So imagination's usefulness is inversely proportional to the level of domestication, in both humans and animals. In humans, domestication is pro-establishment, lack of domestication is considered wild and fringe (and entertaining at a distance for the establishment).

The closer you get to the halls of power in whatever field - the seat of the particular establishment (business, politics, science) - the less valued imagination is because of the extreme specialisation in highly corporatised environments. They need reliability and cooperation more than they need novelty. Imagination is to be provided by creative specialists. Otherwise, to imaginatively stray from the party line is to be self indulgent, not a team player, off with the pixies. The corporate work environment is a meme jungle, and each imaginative meme that you "helpfully" provide will piss somebody off. The meme will invariably compete with other memes - probably embraced by thin-skinned higher-ups who consider alternatives to their ideas akin to heresy - no matter how imaginative.

Anyone interested enough in philosophy and existentialism to be on this forum, and who's worked in the corporate arena, will immediately recognise the imaginative straitjacket I'm talking about.

Every now and then you can get away with a little creativity in your projects, but overstepping the mark in this area is punished by loss of credibility and, subsequently, cooperation. So you need to exercise more caution than I managed until I escaped into retirement. When things go wrong, imaginative solutions will be less well received in ensuing witch hunts than slavishly following the rules.

I thought that, with retirement, I'd be free to be creative but I've found that I've been conditioned over decades like a hen that won't leave the barn. I've been unable to muster the creativity to engage in the kinds of projects I imaged pre-retirement. A caged chicken with the heart of a free ranger, bursting to find a way of escaping her conditioned mental prison!

Still, overall, I'm glad for the imagination that I have and, like Oliver Twist, I'd like more. Imagination is not always convenient but it's rich.

Skip wrote:Do you have an active imagination?
In a creative line of work - arts, innovation or design - imagination is necessary. But in other cases, it could be a drawback.
An imaginative person in a challenging situation, for example, might see of perils and obstacles that don't really exist. A more down-to-earth person might be better able to assess the real problem and find a practical solution. Someone who is prone to anxiety might give him or herself unnecessary wakeful nights, conjuring up potential disasters that may never happen.

On the other hand, imagination can be entertaining.

As far as I am aware, I have an imagination that can be underactive, active or overactive, depending on state of physical or mental health.
If by imagination you mean the ability to have new ideas, to be creative, resourceful - or to picture stuff that isn't really there.

On the whole, I see imagination as being the most valuable tool we have in our mental make-up.
If it leads to mental terrors, then it can also save us from them...

But I think all that would be quite obvious and your question lacks a certain je ne sais quoi - or maybe my answer does - or both...
It could have been worse - I could have quoted from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy...'What is Imagination?'

Dalek Prime: Question; do you think imagination and intuition are interrelated?

Maybe not inter- , but certainly related. Off-hand, I'd guess imagination is an elaboration of intuition, which may be an elaboration of instinct. I've not given it any thought before. Now I'll have to.

Gerta: When the humans are out she and her friend simply shut down and wait, often looking out windows or the back gate. By contrast, a wolf left alone in the backyard would have no problem of thinking of things to do since that's largely what it's always done.

He would put all his mind and energy toward escape. For them, imagination is always put to a practical purpose, because they're on their own in a hostile world. A domestic dog has all his needs catered, so his imagination is purely recreational. (Unless he has a bad master, in which case, escape or revenge might be back on the table, depending on how deeply buried his inner wolf is.)

I guess it's the same with domestic humans.

So imagination's usefulness is inversely proportional to the level of domestication, in both humans and animals. In humans, domestication is pro-establishment, lack of domestication is considered wild and fringe (and entertaining at a distance for the establishment).

I like this very much. And I think the analogy holds: in inimical domestic situations, we do use imagination for escape and revenge. A lot of it, in technological society is entirely at the service of illusory escape. Standardized, mass-produced and retailed, we can regard imagination properly domesticated. But the individual with an independent imagination is more uncomfortable in a dysfunctional society than one who readily consumes its pre-packaged representations.

So, the imagination of a Walt Disney is a huge asset, but the feral imagination of an Abbie Hoffman is a liability.

marjoram_blues: But I think all that would be quite obvious and your question lacks a certain je ne sais quoi

They usually do. That's why I rarely post any. But I was soooo boooored!

Skippy, my young man. Love it when you get us all going. We make of a topic what we will. Sometimes a lot depends on who's doing the asking. That's what made me shake off some lethargy. To see the response. Some never do.

Skip wrote:Do you have an active imagination?
In a creative line of work - arts, innovation or design - imagination is necessary. But in other cases, it could be a drawback.
An imaginative person in a challenging situation, for example, might see of perils and obstacles that don't really exist. A more down-to-earth person might be better able to assess the real problem and find a practical solution. Someone who is prone to anxiety might give him or herself unnecessary wakeful nights, conjuring up potential disasters that may never happen.

On the other hand, imagination can be entertaining.

Without imagination you simply cannot act. Unless you can envision what your future is you are doomed to sit and react only to autonomic stimuli.
Something as simple as getting up and going to the kitchen to choose food requires that you imagine the outcome.

Hobbes' Choice wrote: Without imagination you simply cannot act. Unless you can envision what your future is you are doomed to sit and react only to autonomic stimuli.
Something as simple as getting up and going to the kitchen to choose food requires that you imagine the outcome.

Yes. I see that's true: to visualize any future reality requires an act of imagination. I was only thinking of the creative imagination, rather than the planning imagination. Maybe there are different categories of imagination, or different functions of the same one, or different amounts of it present in individuals, or it's active to different degrees in various situations.

Skip wrote:

Hobbes' Choice wrote: Without imagination you simply cannot act. Unless you can envision what your future is you are doomed to sit and react only to autonomic stimuli.
Something as simple as getting up and going to the kitchen to choose food requires that you imagine the outcome.

Yes. I see that's true: to visualize any future reality requires an act of imagination. I was only thinking of the creative imagination, rather than the planning imagination. Maybe there are different categories of imagination, or different functions of the same one, or different amounts of it present in individuals, or it's active to different degrees in various situations.

I knew I shoulda posted the Stanford link
Skip - why do I get the feeling you already know the answers to your questions. And that is why you 'rarely post any'.

Skip wrote:

Hobbes' Choice wrote: Without imagination you simply cannot act. Unless you can envision what your future is you are doomed to sit and react only to autonomic stimuli.
Something as simple as getting up and going to the kitchen to choose food requires that you imagine the outcome.

Yes. I see that's true: to visualize any future reality requires an act of imagination. I was only thinking of the creative imagination, rather than the planning imagination. Maybe there are different categories of imagination, or different functions of the same one, or different amounts of it present in individuals, or it's active to different degrees in various situations.

I suppose when it comes to assessing danger, say, in the dark. That would be more to do with reason and rationality. It's about how calm and steady a person is. This would provide a creative person with discriminatory abilities. I don't think just having a creative imagination would be an impediment necessarily. In fact it would probably enable you to see so many possibilities that it would avoid nasty surprises. Not only would you 'see it coming', but you might also be better equipped to have a choice of solutions.

marjoram_blues wrote:Skip - why do I get the feeling you already know the answers to your questions.

I have some answers - doesn't everyone who poses a question? (except maybe PhilX), but they're not all the answers or the only answers. What I'm mostly interested in is other people's experience and opinion. Sometimes a point of view or explanation emerges that opens up new vistas. Greta started me thinking, just now, about dogs and domestication and the quality of imagination in different circumstances, and Hobbe's Choice added another dimension. Don't you find that interesting?

And that is why you 'rarely post any'.

No, the reason for that is, I tend to lay lead balloons, which is discouraging.

Skip wrote:

marjoram_blues wrote:Skip - why do I get the feeling you already know the answers to your questions.

I have some answers - doesn't everyone who poses a question? (except maybe PhilX), but they're not all the answers or the only answers. What I'm mostly interested in is other people's experience and opinion. Sometimes a point of view or explanation emerges that opens up new vistas. Greta started me thinking, just now, about dogs and domestication and the quality of imagination in different circumstances, and Hobbe's Choice added another dimension. Don't you find that interesting?

And that is why you 'rarely post any'.

No, the reason for that is, I tend to lay lead balloons, which is discouraging.

I agree that new vistas are interesting. What interests me is why some threads which sorely lack imagination get so much response. Why do they fly ?
It is always encouraging to read substantial and well-written responses such as you mentioned. There are suggestions which I might query but don't initially respond to. I think it's a shame when this happens; the poster has no idea how or where their thoughts have stirred another's imagination. Trying to get into the head of a dog...