What Is Imagination?

What is Imagination? Is it a construct of the mind or is it more? How is it different from any other phenomena like seeing, perceiving, believing, thinking, dreaming and so on? Whenever someone needed to create a picture in our minds, they told us to imagine. For example, imagine that you are in the middle of a forest and a tiger is chasing you, and we immediately create a picture in our heads. In fact, the interesting thing is that even if the speaker never used the word imagine, and instead only said that there was a child in the middle of a forest and a tiger was chasing it, a similar picture is created in our minds. This leaves us wondering whether imagination is a voluntary phenomenon which can be controlled by will and if it can be, then to what extent. If it can’t be controlled by will, then what controls our imagination?

If it were to be controlled by will, then I could easily allow myself to imagine anything and as easily prevent myself from creating undesired images in my mind. It is observed that although it is easy to allow the mind to imagine something at will, it is difficult to hold it back from imagining something that is not desired. Instead, the mind itself starts creating images that it was never asked to imagine. How and why would the mind be so active to create images that were never called for? What is the input required to create an image in the mind, if any? What are the different factors involved in this mental state called imagination? Is imagination built upon previous images and impressions or is it an original creation of the mind? If I were to imagine something that I have never seen or never knew existed, then how would I do it? For example, if I was told to imagine life on a black hole, the picture that I try to create in my head does not go beyond the image of a black hole which I recently saw in a news article. My imagination seems restricted to the information that is available to my brain. If I were to imagine spending a day at a fictitious place of which I have no knowledge, it does not help me in creating a picture of this place in my mind. On the contrary, if I were told to imagine a day in Singapore, which I have never visited, but heard about and seen its images, I can still imagine how a day in Singapore would be like.

Although, I have never lived in Singapore, I can still create an image in my mind. This image, however may not match with my real experience, if I ever go to Singapore. It appears like even though the mind cannot create an image of something it has absolutely no knowledge of, it can definitely construct an image based on whatever little knowledge it has and come up with something that is completely different from the so called reality. The mind seems to build on its past experiences and knowledge gained from different events and experiences in the past and brings these different pieces of information together to create an image of its own.

Moreover, is imagination limited to a picture created by the mind or does it affect us and the environment around us? While reading a book, the mind automatically starts creating images from the understanding of the words written in it. There are instances when people narrate a disastrous event and we dislike having created its image in our mind because it leaves us feeling uneasy. This also brings me to wonder how an image imagined by the mind affects the way we feel about something. Any creation of the mind is observed to have some effect on one’s feelings and actions. Similar seems the case with imagination. A picture created by the mind also gives rise to emotions and feelings. Imagining something that I believe to be a happy situation has positive effect on my mood and feelings, while imagining something that I believe will create distress has a negative effect on my feelings.

Belief and imagination seem to share a mysterious relationship. While our beliefs influence our actions, it seems to also influence our imagination to a certain extent, which in turn affects our moods and feelings. However, our beliefs are mostly based on our perception of the world around us and what we think is applicable in the real world. For example, if I believe that drinking chilled water chokes my throat, I would prevent drinking chilled water. However, if I imagine that drinking chilled water chokes my throat, I wouldn’t let that stop me from drinking chilled water. Imagination as we understand is a fictional creation of our mind that may or may not find relevance in what we think is the real world. While, belief works well in the three dimensional world around

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