📘 Part 3: Imagination

This episode's vocabulary

Manipulate figures in your head (verb phrase) – to mentally move or control shapes or numbers. → In geometry, you have to manipulate figures in your head, which definitely takes some imagination.

Imagination development (noun phrase) – the process of improving one's ability to imagine. → Art and drama classes are crucial for a child's imagination development.

Bounded by (phrasal verb) – to be limited or restricted by something. → Adults' imaginations can be bounded by their experiences and knowledge of the world.

Fixed notions (noun phrase) – rigid or unchangeable ideas or beliefs. → Experience can lead to some pretty fixed notions of how things should be done.

Go out the window (idiom) – to be completely discarded or forgotten. → It's not like your imagination just goes completely out the window when you grow up.

Boxed in (phrasal verb) – confined or restricted; prevented from being creative or free. → Children's imaginations are less boxed in by the rules that adults learn as they get older.

Aphantasia (noun) – a medical condition characterized by the inability to voluntarily create mental images in one's mind. → Some people find it hard to imagine things because they suffer from aphantasia.

Mind's eye (idiom) – the mental faculty of conceiving ideas or images; the imagination. → When I read a book, I can see the characters clearly in my mind's eye.

Think something up (phrasal verb) – to invent or create something in one's mind. → Children can think up all sorts of fantasy worlds when they play.

Fixed formulas (noun phrase) – established or unchangeable rules or methods for doing something. → Scientists might use fixed formulas, but they still need imagination to hypothesise new ideas.

Sensory experiences (noun phrase) – experiences related to the five senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch). → Chefs use their imagination to create unique sensory experiences for their diners.

Choreographer (noun) – a person who creates and arranges dances. → A choreographer needs a lot of imagination to design new and exciting dance routines.

Questions and Answers

Maria: What subjects are helpful for children's imagination?

Rory: Well, I suppose the most obvious ones are things like art and drama, since you have to imagine how things might look and take steps to represent them in different ways. But other subjects also require that. For example, in geometry, you have to manipulate figures in your head, which definitely takes some imagination development to do well.

Maria: What kinds of jobs need imagination?

Rory: Well, I think they all do, really, don't they? Even a barista has to imagine how the coffee will look or think of how they're going to manage their time. And of course, artists have to think about how their various works could look and find materials to accomplish that, if they can. I can't actually think of any jobs that don't need it.

Maria: Do you think imagination is essential for scientists?

Rory: Oh, definitely. I mean, there might be pretty fixed formulas for how various processes are carried out, but at least some imagination will be necessary for thinking about how things will be organized or what alternatives would be suitable if some things are unavailable. So they definitely need this.

Maria: Do you think adults can have lots of imagination?

Rory: I think so, though maybe they're a bit more bounded by their experience and preferences, since those can lead to some pretty fixed notions of how things can or should be done. But we still have to consider various possibilities for how our lives might be and how we can keep them going. So it's not like your imagination just goes completely out the window when you grow up.

Maria: And what about children? Do they have more imagination than adults?

Rory: I think maybe their imaginations are freer and less boxed in by the rules that adults learn as they get older. Yeah, they probably have more freedom of thought compared to adults, I would say.

Maria: And how can people develop their imagination?

Rory: Lots of ways. I think probably the most common one is just by seeing it in action. So you meet people who have very well-developed imaginations and they talk about this, and then you learn how to imagine different things. Alternatively, you might just need to practice it, like when you read a book and you imagine characters, or you can think about drawing different things that you imagine and then refine that. So it's like a physical action, then a mental one.

Maria: For some people, it's difficult to use their imagination. Why do you think?

Rory: Maybe they just haven't had the practice or the exposure to different kinds of imaginative people. And then some people have this thing called aphantasia, where it's a condition where you don't have an imagination or it's extremely limited. That could also be the cause, although I don't think that's a very common thing. I think that's not the case for most people. Most people just haven't had the practice.