Imagination Makes Sense

Imagination:

From the time we’re in the womb, we experience the world through our senses. Human beings are described as “sentient”. One aspect of being sentient is that we are capable of having sensation or feeling. As sensory beings, we cannot feel, perceive, or experience without the information we get from our senses. This is then the basis of our associations, meanings, and choices.

One skill that we acquire early on is the ability to imagine; the ability to recreate sensory impressions and feelings in our minds in the absence of external stimuli. We can alter, combine, synthesize, and otherwise manipulate sensory images to form images and ideas of things never perceived in reality.

Our primitive brain is wired to interpret the sensory information it receives. We then adapt that information to different situations. These situations are influenced greatly by our early life experiences. Over the years, we collect and store these experiences. We construct and form memories, and we form meanings. If we go through this process without stimulating our imagination, we risk going nowhere. Our imagination must be available and be an important part of this process. We can not just brush it aside.

Our first language to express and communicate our experiences is non-verbal. We communicate through vocalizations, gestures, and movements. Then we begin to utilize visual signs and symbols to enhance that communication. As we develop oral and written language, we are able to expand greatly on our ability to communicate and express our thoughts and feelings. Piaget, a developmental psychologist, said that "children move from 'concrete thinking' to 'abstract thinking' over time, and imagination is essential in this development."

Metaphors:

“Look at almost any passage, and you'll find that a paragraph has five or six metaphors in it. It's not that the speaker is trying to be poetic, it's just that that's the way language works.” – Steven Pinker

The language of imagination is metaphor; "Inspiration Takes Flight", is an example. The metaphor is “out there” to make it possible for us to sense and experience things in an unexpected way. We use metaphors all the time. Being aware of their use and applying this language in a stimulating and meaningful way makes the verbal expression of non-verbal sensory experiences possible.

Metaphors permeate human thought and action. As such, becoming conscious of their use will provide thinkers; critical, divergent, scientific, or otherwise, with the means to creatively express their thoughts, ideas, and solutions to problems being addressed.

Does this look familiar to you? When you log in or access a site, do you see this pop-up?

I’m not a robot.

Talk about a metaphor. In the context of the pop-up, we are supposed to tick the box that is found next to this phrase, and in so doing, we assure the site that it is a person requesting access and not another device. But how often have you heard yourself say, in times of frustration, “I am doing the best I can. I am not a robot.”

Robots, computers, and devices acquire information through what is programmed into them and by sharing information. We are not robots. According to Maimonides, a Jewish philosopher and medical doctor, “the five senses, sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell, are essential tools for gaining knowledge about the physical world.”

While humans can use the metaphor of not being a robot to communicate a state of being, robots can never imagine what it is like to be human.

Image by Dorothe from Pixabay