Publishers of technology books, eBooks, and videos for creative people

Home > Articles

This chapter is from the book

This chapter is from the book

Seeing Possibility in Imagination

  • Imagination is what makes our sensory experience meaningful, enabling us to interpret and make sense of it, whether from a conventional perspective or from a fresh, original, and individual one. It is what makes perception more than the mere physical stimulation of sense organs. It also produces mental imagery, visual and otherwise, which is what makes it possible for us to think outside the confines of our present perceptual reality, to consider memories of the past and possibilities for the future, and to weigh alternatives against one another. Thus, imagination makes possible all our thinking about what is, what has been, and, perhaps most important, what might be.

    —Nigel J.T. Thomas, philosopher and cognitive scientist

Nothing we imagine is absolutely impossible, according to Scottish philosopher David Hume. Once we have the capability to form images in our mind, we can define the capabilities needed to bring these images to life—to enable them as technologies. Based on our experience of the world around us, our imagination constructs only images of possibility. If something seems impossible, it may also be unimaginable.

Imagination creates images of the mind, what Aristotle called “phantasia”: an image that is present to us in a given moment. According to Aristotle, “The soul never thinks without a mental image.” In cognitive theory, imagery or “mental representation” is considered essential for thinking but not necessarily linked to creativity.

We imagine from experience, from knowledge, from curiosity, and from memory. In the exercise “The Flower in Your Mind” (see sidebar), the words car, flower, and statue retrieve different specific memories for each one of us but the same general archetypes of those memories. A car will be a form of transportation with four wheels, a flower will have a stem and petals, and the Statue of Liberty will be a woman holding a torch in a raised hand. Will the torch be in the left hand or the right hand? And what is she holding in the other hand? It does not really matter—an archetype is not constrained by specific details. In much the same way, the imagination is free from objective constraints. Its power comes precisely from this freedom. And as the mind reframes and integrates images of new mental or physical artifacts, the more we encounter, the more we can imagine.

People using the most basic tools will find it difficult to imagine new applications of technology, or understand the meaning of emerging signals in devices that do not match the form or functionality of the tools with which they are familiar. This was precisely the problem faced by the Taino when they encountered Columbus’s landing party: a group of people who did not use iron and lacked substantial weaponry face-to-face with another group of people armed to the teeth with swords, helmets, shields, and heavy armor. What meaning do they make out of these sharp contraptions made out of strange materials? What intentions do they carry?

Let’s modify the Flower exercise a bit. Instead of car, flower, and Statue of Liberty, try to see something you have never heard of: freuzel.

Difficult, isn’t it? You have no idea what a freuzel is. A chemical substance, an electronic component, a unit of measure, an individual? Everyone will imagine freuzel in a completely different way, and if they were to draw pictures, these differences in imagination would be clear. Why?

Words represent triggers to knowledge or experience, and are points of departure for the creation of images in our mind. The more evocative the words, the more complex the images we can conceive. It is through words that we allow the mind to access the possibility of a flower. When we make use of our memory to retrieve an image not present to us, we are using our imagination. Which brings us to the simplest definition of imagination: a mental faculty forming images or concepts of external objects, things that are not present to the senses.

The Imaginative Mind

Five-year-old Sophie uses plastic bags to do something you probably have never tried—she skates on carpets. Plastic bags + carpet + imagination = a new indoor sport that exploits the attributes of all the materials involved—availability and low cost—as well as their physical properties—reduced friction for a smoother glide.

Imagination combines aspects of memories or experiences into a new mental construct that differs from past or present perceptions of reality and may anticipate any number of future realities. What inspires us in our processes of imagining is play behavior—not what happens when you play with your hands, which is actually akin to creativity, but an activity of the mind.

Two contrasting types of imagination coexist within our minds. One is expert at reconstructing past images or events, while the other is expert at thoughts and the restructuring of sensory impressions. Where the former is imitative, the latter is creative. Creative imagination is credited as the basis of all human achievement in the sciences and in art.

Freedom and Unlearning

  • It is innocence that is full and experience that is empty. The child, full; man, empty. Men must learn how to unlearn.

    —French poet and essayist Charles Peguy

The imaginative mind is a free mind. Being free from the objective constraints of “today” and “now” does not reside well in adults—our minds are filled with too many rational boundaries and ideas of conduct by the time we “grow up.” Imagination finds its natural place in the mind that is free of preconceptions—the mind of a child.

Children have fewer preconceptions than adults about what could be possible, and thus they have more courage. More courage leads to fearless exploration, which leads to more possibility. It is important to note that the potential for imagination is equally present in both the adult and child mind, but the actualization of that potential may be greater in the child because he or she has none of the adult’s fear.

A colleague once remarked, “If children had the power of adults in social and economic terms, the results of their imaginative thinking would be stunning, if implemented. But because they are children, no one takes them seriously.”

Kids do not have to think about being imaginative; they just are. Adults know the difference between a state of imagining and a state of not imagining. We switch, saying to ourselves, “Today I will be imaginative.” Children make no such statements. For them everything is possible. They do not have to force anything; they just do what they do until adults tell them what to do and try to control what could be possible.

Part of the problem is that adults may know too much. We meet many well-educated people who seem to know a lot, but in our conversations with them we do not discover an original idea in their thinking. We might discover an enormous amount of information but not one novel thought. In other words, they simply transmit to others what they have learned from others and from various sources of knowledge.

Most people are so conversant in other people’s imaginative thinking and ideas, they do not assume that they have an imagination of their own. Is it the fear of imagination or lack of confidence that prevents most adults from advancing original thoughts? Or is it lack of practice? To answer these questions, we need to first understand the power of imagination.

The Power of Imagination

  • He lets the last Hungarian go. He waits until his wife and kids are in the ground, and then he goes after the rest of the mob. He kills their kids. He kills their wives. He kills their parents and their parents’ friends. He burns down the houses they live in, the stores they work in. He kills people that owe them money. And like that, he’s gone. Underground. Nobody’s ever seen him since.

    —“Verbal” Kint, describing the legacy of the mobster Keyser Soze in The Usual Suspects

Most of us, at one point in our lives, were afraid of the dark. As children, we would lie awake at night, fearfully watching the closet door for traces of movement in the fuzzy darkness, or maybe huddle under the covers, listening for the sound of creaking floorboards or breathing that wasn’t our own. It did not matter that by the light of day, those shadows in the corner were a benign pile of laundry. At night, when we were alone in our beds, they became the boogeyman, and he was just waiting for us to close our eyes so he could pounce.

As we grew older, we grew less afraid of the dark. We knew that the pile of laundry was just that, and our belief in monsters-in-waiting waned along with our ability to make believe. But what exactly was it that we were afraid of? What did we believe in so strongly that it would send us running in terror to our parents’ bed?

We were afraid that what we imagined might actually happen. The power of our imaginations was strong enough to convince us of the possibility. As children or adults, we seek out connections and consistencies to build a solid narrative in the context of our experience—we believe because we have the desire to.

The narrative of the 1995 film The Usual Suspects illustrates this desire. It unfolds in an interrogation room, where the suspect, “Verbal” Kint narrates a story about his experience with the mysterious, semi-mythical Keyser Soze—a vicious Hungarian mobster accused of innumerable crimes. Kint culls the names, places, and events of the story from objects around the room—from coffee cups to mug shots. These details trigger his imagination and enhance the contextual possibilities of his story. It works because he maximizes both the power of his imagination—he has the courage to believe in the story’s capability—and his interrogator’s willingness to believe.

The Fear of Imagination

  • Those who fear the imagination condemn it: something childish, they say, something monsterish, misbegotten. Not all of us dream awake. But those of us who do have no choice.

    —author Patricia McKillip

Like children in the dark, adults fear being exposed to a place from which they can never return, of discovering something whose implications may change them forever. Knowledge changes us. Ideas transform us. Once something new is discovered, you can never look at the world in quite the same way again.

Are you willing to go there? Are you willing to make a discovery today about a new way of doing things? Are you willing to jump backward, head first, in front of millions of people? Are you willing to look silly? Are you willing to try and fail?

The fear of imagination is the fear of failure and of not being original enough. It is the fear of not living up to our expectations and the expectations of others. The chances of being wrong or irrelevant are so great, people think, it’s probably best not to open their mouths. The fail-safe is to kill the giraffe, cut it up, and put it in the refrigerator.

Fear of imagination is the fear of unlearning. A six-year-old I know once remarked, “You don’t have to open your mouth to talk to the dead.” A child can say this because he or she has not learned enough to be constrained by norms, or limited by expectations or bias. For children, there are no consequences; as far as they are concerned, it is all play. It is all life.

This is also the mindset an adult must have to seriously ask the question posed in Chapter 1: “What if my toothbrush could speak?” You do not care how people look at you in that moment. You are just playing. You have created new rules. You have empowered both yourself and your audience by removing the limits of convention. Now what if that question was asked to people who could enable the technologies to implement some of the possible answers?

The Death of Imagination

  • Pingu lives on the ice cap with his mother, his postman father and his baby sister Pinga. They live in a small village with all the usual shops, a school, lots of abandoned ice sculptures to play in, a skating rink and a skittles alley. His friends are Ping and Pingo, and Robby the seal. His enemies include a mean-minded seagull....

    Pingu FAQ, Version 3 19.10.95

In the animation series Pingu, produced by the Swiss group Trickfilmstudio, a young penguin shares his mischievous and engaging adventures with a cast of characters who communicate in a mysterious language of expressive sound and gesture called Pinguish. This unconventional mode of communication has played a large role in establishing Pingu’s worldwide following; many teenage and student fans of the tiny penguin even use Pinguish in their daily conversations.

What can we learn about communication from a language in which the obvious rules seem to be absent?

We learn the value of contextual communication. If we can decode the context, we can decode the content, and Pingu is context for content. The rhythm, syntax, tone, and volume of Pinguish all contribute to the audience’s decoding of the context into content—allowing precise communication between characters and audience. Precise enough for millions of children to comprehend its meaning and absurd enough for millions of their parents to ask, “Why are you watching this?”

Every sound Pingu and his friends make is information. The fact that the language is made of abstract noises helps children concentrate on the whole situation, so that they must participate in decoding the meaning of what they see and hear. Pinguish is an excellent example of complete communication, involving movement, gesture, and facial expression to complement sound.

The fact that it is not a real language is irrelevant—for millions of children in more than 50 countries, “learning” Pinguish is very much the essence of learning through contextual communication. And contextual communication is a function of imagination because it is the mind that puts it all together. If you do not contextualize what you see with what you hear now, you are not a full participant in your own story.

Pinguish teaches us that contexts continually change, so not only do we need to be receptive to the contexts that surround us; we need to adapt ourselves to their changing meanings. As adults, we are encouraged to perceive certain social structures, such as the roles of work or government, as relatively permanent despite their continual change and transitions; they become a social certainty. In some respects, this perception reduces our ability to contextualize and interpret new information, as it does not fit within our expectations. So the abstract sounds of Pingu lose their value as meaningful ideas, feelings, and intent. But when does this happen? Why and when do we stop understanding Pinguish?

Peachpit Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from Peachpit and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Overview


Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about Peachpit products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information


To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites; develop new products and services; conduct educational research; and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email ask@peachpit.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information


Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security


Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children


This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing


Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

  • Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
  • Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
  • Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
  • Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information


If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out


Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by Adobe Press. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.peachpit.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information


Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents


California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure


Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

  • As required by law.
  • With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
  • In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
  • To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
  • In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
  • To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
  • To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
  • To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
  • To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links


This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact


Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice


We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020