A Causal Relationship Between Imagination and Knowledge - Essay Example

 Based on facts and arguments, the true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but the power of being imaginative. There have been a number of facts and explanations that have been used to explain this statement. Imagination is having the capability to shape a mental image of having something that is not present or has not happened in the past. Our imagination has the ability to create an occasion that has not happened or exists. As human beings we imagine all the time and most of our thinking takes little or no conscious effort. You could almost say that we think without thinking. For example if am asked whether I would like coffee or tea, I don’t have to stop and carefully weigh up the reasons why one would be preferable to the other. Knowledge in some aspects is regarded as that which is learned or acquired through education, trainings or experience, therefore, cannot be a good reflection of intelligence (Ernst & Maureen, 101). 2.0 Imagination power over knowledge The power of imagination involves a number of aspects which include reasoning, reflection and thinking. It has often been said that what makes the difference between humans and other animals is the ability to imagine through reasoning. Reasoning is a process by which beings draw conclusions or reach decisions based on the strength of imagining. The imagination may be beliefs or observations. Being rational is understanding that forms facts or beliefs that make others to follow, and using understanding to make decisions and judgments. Another ability that evidently belongs only to human animals is the ability to reflect. Reflecting is part of imagination which means giving deep, serious and total concentration when doing something. For example, when someone is thinking reflectively, she does not just make up her mind on impulse, but considers alternatives, thinks about consequences, weighs up available evidence, and so on (Ernst & Maureen, 103). Other aspect of reflective imagination is critical thinking and problem solving. One very valuable form of imagination can be described as ‘thinking about thinking’ the reflective thinker does not just think about the problem to be solved, the decision to be made, or the argument to be won, but also the reasoning processes that go into those activities. Reflecting in the way we think allows us to evaluate how effective our thinking is, what its strength are, where it sometimes goes wrong and most important of all, how it might be improved. We have the power of imagination; some individuals are regarded as more imaginative than others, they are able to come up with creative, innovative ideas and contributions more easily. Through imagination it makes it possible to experience a number of events inside one’s mind. It also gives the ability to look at a particular situation in a different point of view; it does allow people to mentally explore the past and the future. This prompts individuals to use past events to come up with solutions, remedies and innovations for future events (Roxanne, 99). It is through imagination that one is able to go anywhere as quick as they want to; the freedom that people feel when they are imagining their future is magnificent. Through imagination one knows what they really want, and how they will be after you have achieved it. Using imagination can help a person achieve their goals much faster. For example, most artists use their imagination to picture a number of events and facts that they need to sketch. Any creative picture can be judged by how the artist was able to come up with innovative and imaginative images in their artistic works (Ernst & Maureen, 103). Predictions can also be achieved through imaginations, where predictions is a kind of judgment which is about something that may or may not be true because it is still in the future. All predictions done through imagination have some level of uncertainty about them, however, some predictions are based on such strong scientific or other evidences that are beyond reasonable doubt correct, but only achieved in the process of imagining. For example when individuals are faced with a number of problems or decisions to make, they will imagine and come up with a prediction which is a conclusion of arguments, claims, facts and pieces of evidences (Roxanne, 101). Cognitive identity which is a measure of individual’s intelligence encompasses how one’s mind processes information on an area of the world which is of interest, and the occupational path that one will travel. It is through ones cognitive identity that motivates discovery as a means to fulfill ones curiosities. Intelligence in individuals is defined as information put in or stored in one’s mind; intellect determines what information comes in, where it is stored and how it is accessed. Intelligence then is how quickly, accurately, and with what level of complexity orders can be fulfilled in one’s mind. In contrast knowledge is intellectual accumulation of information that people have acquired through education, training and experience (Roxanne, 99). When we refer knowledge as power it means the way we keep any idea, gain more power and influences in our life by either maximizing the stored knowledge in our minds. In this respect, knowledge often serves as a social marker, and professionally acknowledging whether or not you have the skills to function in any given occupation. For example, the use of Mammography was born through imagination, today we find our self in a fast moving world of change filled with electronic communications, and a making of medical images from different modalities. A number of people give up on their chances because the world is filled primarily with those that give up on their dreams first. The greatest thing about being human being is that you get to think and act in a way you want to think and act (Ernst & Maureen, 105). To make an effort to change the way we view our life and our present situation is to take control and empower our self with the ability and opportunity to live a happy, rewarding and good life, it takes courage to change, and to find courage one needs to find a way to get away out of life than it was ever thought possible. In just imagining the kind of possibilities in one’s life will inventively bring about change. Be positive and flexible by learning to adapt and actively looking for solutions, this will then help in making the best choices in life and therefore lead to the right directions (Roxanne, 99). The use of imagination is important than knowledge, this is because when we lack imagination, none of the things that we consider in common knowledge would have been thought of. For example, Democritus did imagine that matter could be split into a number of little things called Atoms which means that without any imagination there is no knowledge. There is a causal relationship between imagination and knowledge; this is because it initiates anyone to do something that can be achieved through knowledge. The use of imagination has for long been used in history and science, and each inventor or creator used imagination to come up with new ideas. When they have already imagined ideas, they then use science to make the ideas work. For example, the Wright brothers thought about the airplane before the scientists knew how to achieve any flight. This reflection showed that mankind can also defy the forces of nature with the help of imagination (Ernst & Maureen, 105). The use of belief is another part of imagination; this is through religion where the basis of religion is on belief. There has been no proof of god, and majority of Christian’s believe god is there, the second aspect is that people believe the stories contained in the bible are true, but there has been no reasonable proof to support that, it is through their imagination that they are prompted to accept biblical stories. Though some things can simply be explained by Christianity, science is also unable to explain certain facts and events leaving people guessing through imaginations (Roxanne, 103). Majority of arguments have claims that try to explain right statements, some of the claims are made up in an argument that is well known through facts, but majority of the claims are built upon imaginations, forecasts, suggestions, beliefs and opinions. They may be false or true. The claims may be perfectly possible to construct any kind of arguments from false claims, either out of mistaken belief, or deliberately in order to bring out a sound conclusion or judgment; imagination has been widely used over application of knowledge to solve more critical and analytical mathematical concepts (Ernst & Maureen, 107). In the area of algebra and probability, these problems may involve the use of different skills in one question, and may require extra stages of immediate reset and more imaginations in developing methods of solutions. A number of imaginations can be utilized through data extraction and processing skills that are needed to solve a number of problems, the main difficulty is finding a suitable method to be used to solve these kinds of questions. For example, complex probability sums need full imaginations and creativity to come up with a suitable solution. Data extraction type of questions are mainly quite straight forward but others include a large amount of information to digest, and also have a unique method that will be used in solving problems, all these can only be achieved via use of imaginations (Roxanne, 105). We use imagination in our ordinary perception of the world, while such perceptions cannot be separated from interpretations, which is common to everyone who can be personal or revolutionary. The use of imagination operates according to the principle of resemblance which enables us to think not of one thing at a time, but things in general. The objectives that are for us are actively ascribed, and are being perceived, which believes that our knowledge of the world is derived from expressions. One aspect of imagination is the notion of continuous existence which arises from the concurrence of some qualities of our impressions with some qualities of imaginations (Roxanne, 109). The use of imaginations is chosen because it helps to fill in the gaps in our own experience which are highly supported by memory; this brings lively and vivid ideas to the mind on what we have experienced before. Imagination has the function of compelling us to believe that there are objects in the world which exists continuously. For example, we can recognize the sun when we see it again as the sun we saw yesterday. Imagination occurs prior to knowledge, and it operates in a display or presentation of objects, facts and activities in the world and without objects knowledge would have no subject matter (Ernst & Maureen, 110). 3.0 Conclusion Imagination is vital in our daily life; we need to expand our imagination to break the limitations of the current era. There is need to open our minds and imagine that human species can actually do better and achieve great things. Imagination and knowledge are equally vital. Knowledge provides the means to achieve our missions, goals and aspirations. The means of setting and crafting our policies and procedures depend on knowledge. The use of imagination alone can be utopian but if both are combined they can produce sufficient results. However, in general individuals’ intelligence can only be judged based on their creative and innovative nature which is used in solving a given task or problem but not on the amount of knowledge learnt through training and education. Works Cited Ernst, Cassirer & Maureen, Lukay. An essay on man: an introduction to a philosophy of human culture. Hamburg: Meiner Publication, (2006) pp.95-110. Print Roxanne, Jon. Magical notebook: lead a happier, healthier and more fulfilling lif., New York: Mirhashemi Publications, (2006) pp.100-108. Print Read More