Vam used to call my posts "imaginings", but I found that most of my thinking was connected to modern theories. My thoughts were based on my logic and my logic might have been sometimes mere imaginings but mostly my views are amply substantiated by modern day scientific hypotheses.
On Thu, Mar 12, 2015 at 10:21 AM, archytas <[email protected]> wrote: > These days imagination is recognised as playing a central role in human > thought, from planning and creativity to memory and problem-solving. It > protects our mental health and may even be the fragile foundation on which > human society is built. It's thought making up imaginary worlds may be > essential in maintaining our health. According to Steven Mithen, an > anthropologist at the University of Reading, UK, who specialises in the > evolution of the mind, seven key changes were needed to allow the emergence > of human imagination as we know it. Each happened for other purposes, the > first three in our distant ancestors, but the final four exclusively to > Homo sapiens - though we think other animals imagine. > > 1 Theory of mind > > What is it? The knowledge that others have beliefs and thoughts that are > different from one's own. Probably evolved in response to larger social > groups > > How does it support imagination? Allows "thought experiments" about > thoughts and behaviours of others > > 2 Human life history > > What is it? A long period of infant helplessness plus an extended > childhood and adolescence. May have evolved to resolve the conflict between > bipedalism – which narrows the pelvis – and large brain size > > How does it support imagination? Enables an extended period with no adult > responsibilities, giving the opportunity for imaginative play. Teenage > ends at about 25 in physical terms. > > 3 Specialised intelligence > > What is it? The evolution of dedicated mental modules to deal with > specific types of thought or behaviour > > How does it support imagination? Allows the combination of different types > of knowledge or ways of thinking to create new ideas > > 4 Language > > What is it? Strictly speaking, a system of words and grammatical rules. > Mithen argues that only Homo sapiens evolved true language > > How does it support imagination? Enables the creation, sharing and > elaboration of ideas that couldn't have been conceived of in a single human > mind > > 5 Cognitive fluidity > > What is it? Using language to more efficiently combine specialist > knowledge across cognitive domains > > How does it support imagination? Allows the creation of novel thoughts and > ideas including metaphors and symbols > > 6 The extended mind > > What is it? The use of technologies such as writing and computer chips to > store and share ideas > > How does it support imagination? Allows existing ideas to be built on and > improved > > 7 Sedentary lifestyle > > What is it? The transition from nomadic hunter-gathering to settled > farming lifestyles > > How does it support imagination? Through a massive expansion of the > shared, extended mind and also the creation of food surpluses so > individuals could spend time on creative pursuits > > > This doesn't really define imagination, but does suggest it is not as much > 'in brain' as we have traditionally imagined. Memories used by the > imagination are often fractured and not accurate and it can be difficult to > separate memory and imagination. This is the beginning of the scientific > view of imagination and at some point we start to see links with Molly's > mystics and the intuition RP mentions in what we normally term > hypothetico-deductive method. > > > > On Thursday, March 12, 2015 at 2:40:45 AM UTC, archytas wrote: >> >> Ah Hope! What an imagined blessing to us all you are. >> >> Molly has written fairly extensively on imagination, including such as a >> coming transparent world, an old religious theme she handles much better >> than some famous texts (More, Bentham) and without grim fundamentalist >> overtones of a promotion of virtue and prevention of vice squad. One could >> start in Hope's lovely circles of all being imagination in an imagination >> world - the modal logic view of David Lewis and Nelson Goodman on ,many >> possible worlds. I'm sure Hope will give us a long treatise on this now >> Gabby isn't about to bully everyone and Allan has been castigated and is >> trying to be a good boy. There does seem something of a flaw in the many >> world Hope hypothesis, as every possible world Hope is in contains >> Gabby-bullying questions. This is remarkably dull and unimaginative. >> >> On Thursday, March 12, 2015 at 12:05:47 AM UTC, Hope Sunshine wrote: >>> >>> Ultimately all is imagination in a world of imagination. What was it >>> that facilitator said about imagination? Surely we can melt all that >>> matters to us to one bowl. We could need some clarifying words from you >>> over in the bully conversation. Can I invite you to take a look there too? >>> >>> Am Mittwoch, 11. März 2015 22:41:56 UTC+1 schrieb Molly: >>>> >>>> I have been thinking about something facilitator said about imagination >>>> a few days back and wonder what everyone thinks about it. Contemporary >>>> christian mystics like Neville Goddard, Joel Goldsmith and Ralph Waldo >>>> Trine think it is the crucible of consciousness so to speak. I also think >>>> it is important in the way we shape the world we live in, using it for >>>> thought, inspiration, creativity and even memory. If we are both finite and >>>> infinite, I think imagination helps us bridge that gap. What do YOU think?, >>>> includ >>>> >>> -- > > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > ""Minds Eye"" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
