Seeds wrote:
Just walk through the stores of a giant shopping mall, or picture in your mind the almost infinite array of inventions and material manifestations that form the basis of the world's societies, and then realize that practically all of those creations owe their existence to human “imagination.”
Nick_A wrote:
It seems that Greta and Seeds are glorifying what has become a human norm built upon imagination
Is this a good thing? Is sacrificing real needs in favor of the results of self justifying imagination producing all the horrors evident in the world really worth celebrating?
Seeds wrote:
Nick, I’m not sure that an interpretation of someone’s words could get much more biased and disingenuous than that.
Imagination inspires the inventions and material manifestations you wrote of. Conscious attention invites us to remember human meaning and purpose and the way out of Plato’s cave. Imagination and consciousness are mutually exclusive. Consciousness invites intuition while imagination invites egoistic satisfaction. Einstein appreciated the difference which is why he supported the great ideas at the core of philosophy and the essence of religion tht deserve pondering more than argument.
This quote is attributed to Einstein. There s some debate about it but no one can doubt the value Einstein placed on intuition
“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift,”
I think this is why the great ideas have lost their value and are openly ridiculed by so many. We have forgotten the importance of what Einstein valued. The great ideas nourish the sacred gift while the rational mind that has become the tool of self justifying egoism seeks to devalue and even destroy them. Yet the essence of these ideas are often within artistic expression and a person can have an intuitive experience of a great truth through artistic expression opening the intuitive mind. Einstein experienced it.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/im ... magination
………..For Einstein, insight did not come from logic or mathematics. It came, as it does for artists, from intuition and inspiration. As he told one friend, "When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come close to the conclusion that the gift of imagination has meant more to me than any talent for absorbing absolute knowledge." Elaborating, he added, "All great achievements of science must start from intuitive knowledge. I believe in intuition and inspiration.... At times I feel certain I am right while not knowing the reason." Thus, his famous statement that, for creative work in science, "Imagination is more important than knowledge" (Calaprice, 2000, 22, 287, 10)……….
……………Wow! Anyone looking for connections between music, mathematics, and physics? How about intuition and reason? Einstein shows us how it all connects. But what do our students typically get, especially in high school and college? They get math without music. They get science without images, feelings and intuition. They get knowledge without imagination. Not only does intuition go undeveloped, many math and science teachers do not give credit to answers (even though they may be correct) that are not explicated by detailed logic. What these teachers appear not to understand is that translating intuitive insights into words or mathematical symbols is a secondary process that can - and should be -- be taught just as explicitly as translating from one language and another…………………….
…………So much for Einstein's admission that he often had a feeling he was right without being able to explain it. So much for experiencing space-time through music. So much for working out ideas in images and feelings and musical architectures for which there are no words or symbols. So much for sitting down at the piano and letting the music show the way.
No wonder so many of our students don't like math and science: what is there to imagine and feel? Where is the art in their learning?.
The great ideas inspire a person to ponder what is beyond themselves. This isn't self gratification and imagination into escapism but rather directed attention; conscious contemplation on questions without answers. That is what Einstein defined as imagination. They open the mind. Modern education seeks to close the mind by making the above seem unnecessary and old fashioned. It doesn't understand the limitations and futility of reason for acquiring a human perspective. Modern education is winning. The conditioned mind is becoming dominant over the open mind. It is obvious by the way the great ideas have been devalued in favor pf honoring the servant. It isn't that there is anything wrong with literal reason. The problem begins when we cannot accept its limitations. Then the need to destroy the great ideas that aren't understood takes over. Can humanity survive the loss? I doubt it. For some reason many seem to value those who destroy more than those who preserve the great ideas at the core of philosophy and the essence of religion.