Imagination
Links to AoK
Neurology perspective
Mental images
Is imagination reliable as a WoK?
Strengths
Limitations
The arts
Mathematics
Makes us able to create and understand metaphors
Makes us able to empathize --> we are able to imagine how the other person is feeling
Helps us visualize, which can make it easier to remember certain information
Imagine future success = work harder for current goals
Helps us solve abstract problems by coming up with new solutions
Imagination = new ideas arise = innovation
Can be a component of escapism = ignore real-life problems
What you imagine may be dependent on your personal experience --> insufficient knowledge
Can cloud your judgement by coming up with ideas that ignore simple logic
Play a role in pessimistic thinking --> constantly imagine worst case scenarios
May lead to unlikely/ improbable solutions to problems
Unrestrained imagination is not possible
Can distort the truth
Imagination is requires for creativity, and thus makes it necessary for creative expression in the arts
Finding patterns, representing patterns, making assumptions and changing perspectives
Children's early develop of mathematical reasoning
Mathematics as a concept of truth
The abstract understanding of numbers begins with mental representations of counting. Therefore the first interaction of children with mathematics begins with Imagination.
Mathematics is an area of right or wrong. It uses reasoning to investigate and solve
BUT, imagination takes a big part of mathematics, as it appears to be the base of many forms of mathematical truths like axioms. Axioms = statements that are taken to be true because they are used as a premise for further mathematical investigation.
Imagination = essential component in creative thinking & innovation
Branches of mathematics where imagination is key: imaginary numbers, algebra, infinite sets
E.g. musicians rely on imagination to compose new music. The same notes have been used many times throughout history but each musician imagines them together to sound a different way.
Children vs Adult Imagination
Claims say that imagination is most active when we are young children
Claim: Reason inhibits our imagination
Definition: "Imagination = The capacity to form a mental representation of something without the stimulus of sense experience."
As children grow, they start gaining reason which then makes our imaginary side smaller. Reason constraints children's minds.
Imagination comes from links we make to past experiences. Hence, children's imagination (who lack life experiences) may then be more limited because they don't have reason or a framework.
Can be made up by any sensory input
We can use our imagination to create visual, auditory, olfactory or gustatory mental images by referring to past experiences
It is more difficult to come up with mental images of situations you have never experiences
Our brains must create new mental images and representation
Period of myelination
Dr Andrey Vyshedskiy explained that the brain’s ability to fuse different mental images is possible because of myelin (an electrically insulating layer of nerve cell axons). The thicker the layers of myelin, the greater velocity of electrical signals travelling down the neural fibres.
E.g. mental image of a campfire --> able to scent the smoke, the marshmallows burning, tc.
The most rapid period of myelination is during early childhood = vivid imagination
Thinking creatively = neurons work together to construct and piece together mental images.
The brain takes familiar images and fits them together in new ways
Mental synthesis
Neuronal ensemble
When we look at an object, thousands of neurons become active in the prefrontal cortex. These neurons carry a code containing the characteristics of the object we are seeing. When we try to imagine the same object later, the same neurons will reactivate.
Creativity and imagination
Imagination and creativity are dependent on each other (one cannot exist without the other)
OR
Creativity = purposeful act motivated by a drive to produce innovative and useful ideas
Imagination = can sometimes lack purpose and potentially lead anywhere
Occurs when you try to imagine something you have never seen before
Conscious process (driven by the prefrontal cortex) which creates a new image by combining other images that are stored in memory
Visualization = Purposeful formation of a mental image of something. It is a technique often taught in sports and in this context is known as mental rehearsal or motor imagery.
Motor imagery = A mental process in which we rehearse or simulate a given action
Mental rehearsal = The use of imagery to practice an act mentally