What role does imagination play in producing knowledge about the world?

"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination,” Albert Einstein once said (1929). Einstein was commenting on a widely-debated paradox, similar to the ‘chicken or the egg’ dilemma, of knowledge v.s. imagination. Imagination is a creative process that sees unconventional possibilities. It does not rely on the five senses; instead, it is the conjuring of a new object or idea out of something baseless.

I saw a print of this woodcut painting (created in 1515 by the German artist, Albrecht Dürer 1 ) when I visited the British Museum, London, in 2018. It depicts, if inaccurately, an Indian rhinoceros which was transported from Goa, India, to Lisbon, Portugal, as a gift from Sultan Muzaffar Shah II 2 . Valentim Fernandes (a German printer) saw the rhinoceros in Lisbon and described it in a newsletter sent to the Nuremberg community of merchants. Dürer received a description and a rough sketch of the animal. He then created the painting, although he had never seen a rhinoceros before

 

In this case, imagination, the conjuring of the image of this never-seen-before species, influenced public perception. The painting is inaccurate: rhinoceroses do not have a second horn on its back. Nonetheless, the painting was replicated hundreds of times, and was viewed in Europe as an accurate representation of the animal until the 18th century. This example demonstrates how imagination relies on knowledge. Indeed, Dürer would have been able to create an accurate representation of a rhinoceros if he had stimuli (for example, using the senses, eyesight). We can see that knowledge ultimately relies on the senses, and imagination relies on knowledge.

 

Even so, this is a semi-accurate representation, and could be viewed as impressive. This is an example of realistic imagination, as Dürer was guided with some information; this differs from fantastical imagination, which is the creation of something entirely new.

 

Finally, Dürer's Rhinoceros demonstrates how appealing imaginary exploration is, for the purpose of enjoyment. Dürer is known for his hyper-realistic portrayals of the natural world, but he was enticed by the possibility and the challenge of engaging in imaginative creation.

This is the Green Bank telescope, located in West Virginia, US. It is the world’s largest steerable radio telescope, spending 20 percent of its observing time on scanning the closest million stars in our galaxy

 

and stars in 100 other galaxies for extraterrestrial life 4 . When I was a child, having watched the movie ‘ET’, I was fascinated by SETI, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. The belief in extraterrestrials dates to as early as the 1600s. Since then, humanity has been gripped by the fantastical possibility of extraterrestrial life. In 2015, the Russian billionaire Yuri Milner announced the launch of the ‘Breakthrough Listen’ initiative, set to run for 10-years, worth $100 million USD 5

 

This example demonstrates the highly engaging and interesting nature of imaginative concepts. Due to popular culture, millions of people around the world have been engrossed by the possibility of alien life. This has led to large investments made by Yuri Milner and other billionaires alike. Imagination is proven to be a powerful tool which can influence people’s actions - the thought of unknown possibilities is exciting and engaging.

 

The Green Bank Telescope demonstrates the power of imagination to conjure up ideas out of nothing. The concept of extraterrestrial life began as a ‘fantasy', an idea with no basis in reality. Knowledge, on the other hand, is a concept that is deeply-rooted in real experiences and facts. Imagination surpasses the boundaries of knowledge and allows people to think beyond barriers of fact. Thinkers were able to explore the concept of extraterrestrial life, even in a time when humanity had very little knowledge about space. Therefore, this object does reveal how imagination does not always rely on the senses. However, one could argue that imagination does rely on reason and the senses in order to create accurate representations of the world. Having said that, the certainty of the existence of aliens is still unknown; therefore, they can neither be viewed as accurate nor inaccurate representations.

Toys have an integral role in children’s development. When I was 10-years-old, for Christmas, I received a gift much like the toy campervan shown. I would drive the Barbie doll around my room, pretending to go on road-trips. This was a simulation of the real world, and ultimately led me to apply the knowledge I had learnt from daily life, through sense perception (e.g. observation, reading books and watching TV) to a more manageable, small-scale scenario. According to Psychology Today, children’s play is like ‘conscious or unconscious “rehearsals” of preparing for adulthood’ 6 . Indeed, play was a way for me to process and consolidate the daily bombardment of information about the world around me.

 

Imagination allowed me to play a role of a character who was not myself, which I believe allowed me to develop empathy. Additionally, it allowed me to construct my own reality. World-building is a valuable process which involves imagining a better future. Through play and imagination, children are able to break social norms and construct utopias which could ultimately be applied on a larger scale in the future.

 

One limitation of children’s use of imagination, however, is that it can lead to the blurring of the line between reality and fantasy. As a child, I was also afraid of the dark and believed in monsters, and this was because of my vivid imagination. If humanity begins to over-rely on imagination as a source of

 

knowledge about the world, people will become delusional. This can be seen through the beliefs in conspiracy theories.