Human imagination. This phrase in itself is wrong. because only man has imagination and the imagination of animals does not exist. Let's explore this amazing, truly human ability to imagine.
Some people are said to have a good imagination, some people have a rich imagination. They can come up with dozens of entertaining stories, tell things that others have not heard, and even in ways that others cannot reproduce. Does a person without imagination exist?
If we are talking about a healthy person, then in fact, all people have imagination. It belongs to the highest cognitive processes in our psyche . Yes, there are tragic cases where people lose many cognitive abilities as a result of injury or illness. But we are talking about healthy people.
Differences
Reproductive imagination is a type of imagination based on already known patterns, details, symbolic, logical and figurative constructions of consciousness contained in memory, and serving as the basis for recreating such constructions either in a new situation or in an updated form, including some unimportant new elements. Unlike the productive imagination, which is the driving force of synthesis - the process of creating fundamentally new structures and phenomena in perception, which usually accompanies creative processes, the reproductive imagination does not achieve a true separation from the current cliches and limitations of consciousness, which have a completely natural, verified and established form, created by someone -or earlier.
However, reproductive imagination, which is never an exact reproduction of constructions contained in memory (otherwise there would be no elements of imagination in it), has a much wider practical range and scope of application in human life than productive imagination. In addition, productive imagination is always based on a powerful and deep layer of experience of reproductive imagination, since the elements of novelty that it regularly allows, the opportunity to go beyond predetermined norms, apparently create in the mind the ability, a certain “training”, allowing one to make a productive breakthrough in the field of creative synthesis.
Talented scientists, writers, artists and musicians who make discoveries and create brilliant works of art, often in both personal and social aspects go beyond the generally accepted adaptive behavioral norms, which confirms the dependence of the power of productive imagination on a person’s ability to ignore stable, formed cliches of consciousness. However, in the field of their professional activity, these people are always well aware of all previous achievements and stable perspectives of perception, and this suggests that they use the reproductive imagination with no less degree of activity. Otherwise, these talented people would simply “reinvent their wheel” every time.
Creating images
It is worth considering the ways of forming images with the imagination.
- Agglutination - images are created by combining certain qualities, parts of individual objects into one whole. Examples are images of a centaur, a mermaid, a hut that stands on chicken legs. This method is also applicable in technical creativity. This is how snowmobiles, seaplanes, trolleybuses and even accordions were created.
- Emphasis. There is a division of individual parts of some part of the whole object. This technique is often used by caricaturists when they want to emphasize certain features.
- Hyperbolization. There is an understatement or exaggeration of the object, and it is also possible to shift or change its individual parts. This method is widely applicable in fairy tales, as well as in epics. Examples: midgets and giants, multi-headed dragons.
- Typing is the most difficult way. An example is when a person observes a picture and draws an image in the subconscious that is conveyed by the author. When reading a book, thanks to the described traits of the character, a person imagines his appearance, character, and has the opportunity to plunge into his world, time and environment.
Functions
Reproductive imagination, thus, allows a person to create in his mind the necessary preparation, emotional and informational basis for any conceptual breakthroughs, and serves as a reliable basis for the practical application of both established and new concepts.
Intuition and reason, combining in a certain proportion in any of the active types of imagination, in the reproductive imagination of a person find such a balance in which the novelty and improvement of semantic or emotional structures of consciousness do not reach the stage of destruction of the foundations, which a stable consciousness instinctively avoids. Apparently, the reproductive imagination, at least in part, is a protective natural mechanism that allows a person to avoid the destruction of stable cliches of perception, the consequences of which he is not yet able to adapt and use safely for himself or for society, since the way out of stable cliches even in a narrow specialized area entails the possibility of similar behavior algorithms in other planes of consciousness.
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The list of images that a person operates with during his life includes not only objects or phenomena that exist in objective reality. It may also be something that was not previously perceived directly by the individual: the distant past or future, places where he has never been and will not visit, living beings that do not exist in the Universe. Answering the question what is imagination, the main characteristic of which is images that are amazing for everyday life, we can say that it is going beyond the real world both in time and in space.
However, everyday and scientific definitions of human fantasies differ greatly. In the first case, it is only everything unreal, not corresponding to the reality around us, and therefore not endowed with any practical significance. Scientists do not quite share the opinion of ordinary people about what imagination is. Defining it from a scientific point of view covers all aspects of an individual’s cultural life and provides an incentive for the development of artistic, scientific and technical creativity.
Pathological forms of passive imagination
In clinical manifestations of mental illness, an assessment of the patient’s characteristics of the manifestation of passive imagination is most often required with pronounced manifestations of various types of decreased level of wakefulness and states of stupefaction. Also, the clinical picture may be supplemented by emerging sleep disturbances due to the content and nature of dreams.
Let's look at them in more detail:
- Oneiroid is a condition characterized by a dreamlike, dream-like stupefaction, which can occur as a result of various skull injuries, exacerbation of acute infectious diseases, manifestations of fever, intoxication of the body, and in some types of acute schizophrenia. With this type of disorder, the patient’s imagination processes are activated and the images it creates appear in the form of fantastic visions that resemble pseudohallucinations.
- Another manifestation of a person’s sick imagination is onirism, a disease in which the patient does not distinguish the boundary between the images of the imagination that come to him in a dream and reality. At the same time, dreams are not perceived with the necessary critical assessment after awakening. Sometimes the patient has vivid dreams during the daytime, as soon as he closes his eyes. It happens that the patient does not even need to close his eyes - he has dreams in the form of waking dreams or sleep with open eyes.
- Another type of imagination disorder is imagination hallucinations, which are a type of human psychogenic hallucinations, the basis of which lies in affectively significant ideas and images thought about in the imagination for a long time.
- Another pathological form of passive imagination is delusion of imagination, which is one of the variants of delusion formation, the source of which is the tendency to fantasize in people with a mythomaniac constitution. At the same time, the person’s perception is not at all impaired, and he is fully oriented in space and aware of the characteristics of his own personality.
- There is also a form of the disorder called dream epileptic seizures, which are expressed in dreams with a predominance of red colors and are accompanied by nocturnal epileptic seizures.
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About the phenomenon of imagination
Man is the only living creature on our planet who tends to fantasize, that is, to reflect the future and act in accordance with the expected (imaginary) situation, using his sensations, perception and thinking.
Speaking about what imagination is in biology, we can say that these are cognitive processes of imagining any future events, which are based on the creation of new images, processed as a result of perception, thinking and knowledge about the world of a particular individual, which were obtained in previous life situations. The essence of any fantasy is the transformation of objective reality, in which objects and phenomena exist that have no points of contact with reality. It is this phenomenon that is most important in the process of becoming a person as an active subject.
Against inspiration
We have shown imagination as a set of techniques that can be consciously applied: from the smallest and most general (seeing as, pretense, empathy) to specific algorithms (retropolation, novum creation, perspectivism). But imagination is often associated with mysterious processes in which a person does not seem to fully control and understand himself. They talk about inspiration, insights, flights of fancy.
But what happens if you simply surrender to free association? If you look at works of art whose authors often talk about inspiration, instead of strong work, you often see a set of stereotypes, held together in different sequences. This can work because these stereotypes often make up our common natural field. But we get truly strong impressions, that same utopian impulse, when we come across ideas that go against common sense.
Actually, common sense is the main enemy of imagination, or rather, the main point to which it is interesting to apply imagination.
Common sense makes many of us think that looking at the world through the eyes of a jaguar will not work; that the inhabitants of the Earth are unlikely to ever become consistent hermaphrodites.
But there are ideas that seem to be much less shocking, but at the same time seem completely impossible. For example, the idea of breaking the causal relationship between work and earnings: people will still work and produce goods, but they will not receive money for this, but in the form of an unconditional basic income - monthly payments for everyone that do not depend on from nothing at all and on which you can lead a fairly decent life. Can you imagine yourself in such a world in the same 50 years? What values would there be in this reality, what problems, what professions, what art?
If it’s difficult to imagine, then it’s not just like that: the belief that this cannot be so has been formed for decades. Nick Srnicek and Alex Williams write about this in Inventing the Future, and it is one of the most powerful studies of common sense in recent memory - detailing how it is cultivated in think tanks, the media, economic programs, and how it is slowly permeating everywhere .
About thinking and imagination
Soviet psychologist Lev Semenovich Vygotsky called these two processes close in both structure and function. They are characterized as extremely related, with similar origins and structure. Speaking about what imagination is in psychology, the scientist considered it a necessary, integral moment of thinking, especially creative thinking, explaining this by the fact that the thinking process includes both forecasting and anticipation of events.
Various problem situations force a person to think, fantasize, and form in his mind an idea of what can be done, strengthening the motivation to find a solution and determining its direction. The degree of uncertainty of controversial moments in life determines the importance of the role of the imagination, which carries out its functions even if the initial situation is incomplete, supplementing it with the products of its activity.
Schoolchildren and adolescence
Students in primary school express their imagination through the fine and applied arts. They are no longer so interested in using household items, since they know how to create them themselves. During this period, they can easily solve various problems using their imagination, while such a question can cause difficulties for an adult. In adolescence, imagination allows you to adapt to society and find yourself. A person builds scenarios in his inner world and experiences them until they no longer bother him, and also tries on social roles, which helps determine further priorities. And it is precisely this formation of one’s own psychological space that contributes to the formation of personality. Soviet psychologist L. S. Vygotsky said that fantasy allows you to create not only works of art, but also scientific discoveries, since it is a manifestation of creative activity and it is during adolescence that it receives wide development.
Law of emotional reality of imagination by L. S. Vygotsky
Speaking about what imagination is in psychology, one cannot ignore its connection with emotional-volitional processes, called, in accordance with the teachings of Lev Vygotsky, the law of emotional reality of imagination. Its main manifestation is the appearance of true, and not imaginary, emotions when any image appears in the human consciousness. This helps to realize what you want and prevent unwanted psychological effects. For example, when reflecting on any current situation, a person may experience unpleasant emotions when considering a certain scenario, which forces him to look for other ways to solve the problem.
Continuing the topic of what imagination and fantasy are, we should mention the fact that both can influence human emotions and feelings. The clearest manifestation of this postulate is frequent anxiety about not real, but imaginary events. The surest way to deal with this is to change the fictional image. This will help reduce anxiety and relieve psychological stress.
“Trying on” the experiences of other people helps to form and show feelings such as empathy or compassion towards them. By imagining in his mind when performing any actions their final result, a person encourages himself to perform them. The brightness of the image is directly related to the motivating force, but the main role is played by its realism and meaning.
Imagination is one of the significant factors influencing the comprehensive development of an individual. The ideals rooted in fantasies, to which a person strives, trying to imitate them, become examples for him, in accordance with which he organizes his life, personal and moral development.
The role of imagination in human life
If you think that you can live without it, then you are very mistaken. Imagination has its embodiment in practice in the form of a certain activity, and this is not always creativity. For example, with its help we solve mathematical and other logical problems. By mentally imagining the condition, we find the correct answer. Imagination also helps to control and regulate emotions and relieve tension in relationships between people. Let's imagine this situation: the husband says that he is going to the bathhouse with friends, but promises to compensate for his absence with a romantic trip to a restaurant. The initially angry and offended wife, anticipating beautiful candles, foaming champagne and delicious seafood, suppresses her anger and avoids a quarrel.
An ideomotor act is also a practical embodiment of imagination. It is often used by illusionists when they are trying to find objects hidden in the hall. Its essence is that by imagining the movement, the magician provokes it. The artist notices micro-changes in the gaze or clenching of the spectators' hands and unmistakably determines who has the item he needs.
What are human fantasies?
Earlier we spoke in general terms about what imagination is. The definition and characteristics of a narrower character directly depend on what type of character is being discussed in each specific case under consideration.
Imagination is divided into several types.
According to the degree of purposefulness, it can be:
- active;
- passive.
According to the results:
- productive;
- reproductive.
According to the degree of volitional effort:
- arbitrary;
- involuntary.
Also, an individual’s imagination can be:
- recreating;
- creative;
- realistic;
- sociological.
Active fantasies
Answering the question “What is active imagination?”, we can characterize it as the process of creating various images in the individual’s brain, which are realized in the future through practical efforts and actions and are reflected in the products of human activity. This type of fantasy is sometimes time-consuming and requires a lot of effort. Nevertheless, it helps to increase the creative content and efficiency of both labor and other types of individual activity.
Development of imagination in preschoolers
At about 3 years old, children’s imagination begins to actively work, and it manifests itself in play. The child completes the image in his head based on the object, replacing it - for example, he “spoon feeds” a doll or parent, replacing the spoon with a stick or any similar object. At this time, the child begins to understand that the game is not happening “for real”, and it is important to create the right conditions for the further development of imagination - to play along. By the age of 4, substitution is replaced by the deliberate replacement of one object with another. In this case, the object should not at all resemble an imaginary object; it can be of any shape - for example, a cube can be a typewriter, and a pencil can be an airplane. Children of senior preschool age already skillfully operate with created images and complete their details. In children 5-6 years old, the imagination becomes controlled, i.e. arbitrary. They can plan their creative activities - for example, before drawing something, they first think through images in their heads.
Passive fantasies
Speaking about what passive imagination is, it should be especially noted that it in no way pushes a person to take active actions, and therefore does not carry any practical meaning. Its main purpose is to satisfy a person’s ambitions with images drawn by him. In this case, the dreamer himself does not strive to translate his dreams into real life or dreams of what is impossible. Such a person is called a utopian or a fruitless dreamer.
Dreams
This peculiar type of fantasy is characterized by isolation from objective reality, and in most cases it will never be possible to bring the images from them to life. They are a cross between hallucinations and dreams, but it should be remembered that, unlike the former, dreams are products of the activity of normal human consciousness.
Dreams
Dreams have always been of particular interest to specialists who study brain activity. Today, scientists tend to believe that they reflect the process of processing various information by the consciousness, and dreams are not only functionally related to this activity, but can also contain human dreams and daydreams, as well as new valuable ideas and discoveries. Here it is appropriate to recall the Russian chemist Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev, who, according to legend, saw the periodic system of elements in a dream, which was later named after him.
Free imagination
This type is referred to as conscious, directed activity, in which the individual fully understands its motives and goals. It is characterized by the deliberate creation of images, and the arbitrariness and activity of the imagination are combined in various ways. Vivid examples of passive voluntary imagination are dreams, and active ones are a long, purposeful search, characteristic of the work of writers, artists and the work of inventors.
Recreating Imagination
This type is based on the creation of images of objects that were not previously perceived by the individual in a complete form, despite the fact that he has an idea of similar objects and their individual elements. Probably everyone knows well what spatial imagination is. But not everyone understands that it is recreative. All images are formed in reality through drawings, drawings and other similar diagrams using the knowledge available regarding them. The elements are more flexible, diverse, dynamic and are reproductive in nature.
Interesting research
We have already seen that psychology considers the development of imagination in parallel with the progress of thinking. Its close connection with activity has also been proven, as evidenced by one story that happened to a certain violinist. For a petty crime he was sent to prison for several years. Of course, he was not given an instrument, so every night he played an imaginary violin. When the musician was released, it turned out that he not only had not forgotten the notes and compositions, but now controlled the instrument much better than ever.
As you can see, imagination is not only fantasies, daydreams and the game of the subconscious, it is also what helps people work and create in real life. Psychologists say that it can be controlled and thus become more educated and developed. But sometimes you should be afraid of him. After all, false facts that our imagination gives us can push us to commit a crime. One only has to remember Othello to understand what troubles our flight of fancy can cause.
Sociological imagination
It is difficult to argue with the fact that the life of an individual cannot be separated from the life of society. Speaking about what sociological imagination is, we can say that it is the ability to recognize the interconnection of everything that happens in reality, taking into account structural, cultural and historical conditions. This variety also considers actions performed by both individual and collective social actors that form a complex and heterogeneous human society.
Having talked in detail about what imagination is, highlighting its various types and describing their features, we can safely say that none of the many types of creativity can be imagined without an element of fantasy, be it science, literature, painting. In a general sense, this is an anticipation of what does not yet exist, but which, perhaps, will become part of our lives. Imagination is directly related to intuition, conjecture, insight. Every person, to one degree or another, is inclined to fantasize, but we should not forget about real life, so that dreams do not become painful hallucinations, and the castles in the air do not collapse in the gray everyday life.
