Imagination

Starting Activity – How do you feel? – What does this scene make you think of? – Have you been here before?

TV Activity – Maria will explain the directions.

Bellwork – "Reality leaves a lot to the imagination." - John Lennon, – Compare and contrast imagination and reason. Use real life examples.

Imagination – the ability to form a representation of something which is not present to the senses – What distinguishes imagination from mental concepts such as perception and memory is truth. – If a claim allegedly based on perception or memory turns out to be wrong, we simply downgrade it to imagination: – What distinguishes perception, memory, and imagination are different degrees of 'force and vivacity' – Perception being the strongest; memory intermediate; and imagination the weakest

Types of Imagination

Fantasy – an escapist form of imagination that is only distantly connected with the real world – The distinguishing feature of fantasy is that it is not connected with the real world – the dream of effortless achieve – There is no clear dividing line between fantasy and more realistic forms of imagination – Fantasy can nourish the imagination and help to push back the borders of the possible; but at worse, it can lead to escapism and a refusal to engage with reality

Realistic imagination – imagination which is informed and guided by the relevant facts – Most productive uses of imagination are realistic in the sense that they are constrained by reality

Creativity – the ability to generate ideas or produce artefacts which are original, surprising and valuable – Creativity is best thought of as a subset of imagination in the sense that while creativity requires imagination, one can imagine all kinds of things without being particularly creative – What distinguishes creative imagination from imagination is originality – A creative idea is novel in the sense that it hasn't been thought of before, and it is often surprising in the sense that it could not have been predicted in advance

Quick Activity: Imagination Workout Drawing! Use your imagination.