Harnessing the power of imagination
Imagination is defined by philosophers, as “The power of the mind to consider things that are not present to the senses, and to consider that which is not taken to be real.” It conjures up images of things past, present and future, and is therefore an important part of the human psyche. How far imagination can be credited to other animals is indeterminate.
The impact of imagination is manifold. As Sherlock Holmes observed: “Where
there is no imagination there is no horror.” Samuel Johnson commented to
Boswell: “Were it not for imagination, sir, a man would be as happy in
the arms of a chambermaid as of a duchess.” So imagination serves as a
vital instrument for discrimination. John Keats wrote of a possible disadvantage: “The
imagination of a boy is healthy, and the mature imagination of a man is healthy;
but there is a space of life between in which the soul is in a ferment …”
On a happier note, Theseus in ‘A
midsummer night’s dream’ remarks on the imagination projecting the
form of things unseen, which the poet’s pen turns to shapes and “gives
to airy nothing a local habitation and a name”, so inspiring the lunatic,
the lover and the poet”.
So any creative activity is prompted by exercising the imagination. The question
must be, how far should we encourage individuals, and particularly those undergoing
education, to use their imagination to enrich their lives, bearing in mind that
too much of anything can prove intoxicating and too little stifling.
In day-to-day living, lack of imagination brings the hazard of inability to perceive
and so forestall harmful effects of a decision or activity. This brings not only
accident-proneness but also failure to empathise and sympathise with our fellows,
resulting in selfishness and greed. To improve living we should therefore encourage
the development of imagination. If we can do so by modifying our ideas of what
constitutes a good education, so much the better. If we structure our children’s
schooling merely with a view to producing slaves for industry and commerce we
shall prove shortsighted, making life not only less attractive but more painful
and hazardous for us all.
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The celebrated Hanging Gardens of Babylon, included among the seven wonders of the ancient world, were reputed to have been constructed by the Assyrian queen Semiramis and later added to by Nebuchadnezzar some two centuries later, about 600BC. According to Diodorus Siculus, writing about 40BC, the gardens formed a square with sides measuring about 120m, rising in terraces and packed with earth deep enough to accommodate large trees. Water reached them from the Euphrates and was distributed from a reservoir situated at the top of the terraces.