Imagination and Reality

Despite having a lifelong interest in science fiction and fantasy, there was a stage in my life when I despised  'imagination.' Let me explain.

It came about as I started growing into my scientific boots in high school. Progressing through the educational system I heard the common educational platitudes like "Imagination unlocks the world" or "Your imagination releases you from your limitations" or the plain old "Use your imagination." However, as I started learning about the real laws and real constraints of the physical world, not to mention experiencing real life disappointments and setbacks, I felt a bit disillusioned by imagination. After all, I couldn't spend the rest of my life imagining I had magical powers that would let me walk through walls or that my best friend was an invisible unicorn that could fly. Sure, imagination was a part of childhood development, and it could still provide some entertainment, but unless you were a fantasy novel author or in the movie business, imagination was bit overhyped.

"When I became a man, I put away childish things..."

—Paul, 1st Corinthians 13

Moreover, as I increased in my faith and religious knowledge, I found I didn't want to exist in a world of childhood imaginations, I wanted to see things as they really were. As Paul said, when I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

It was clearly time in my life to start putting away childish imaginations, and start focusing on reality. Admittedly, there was still room in my life for fun and imagination, good old-fashioned creativity, entertainment (like reading all the Harry Potter books), but those were just sideshows to the real virtues of reason, logic, diligence, hard work, and the pursuit of truth.

This approach worked well through my high school and into my college experience. I had opportunities of learning and understanding many of the great discoveries of the scientific world. I also pursued the study of my faith, learning diligently about God and my relationship to him and the universe.

However, I ultimately found that after studying and learning all I could from experts at universities and from books, I reached a place at the limit of understanding. If the world's knowledge of truth were a city, I had found some of its outer limits. I had always known such a place existed, but for years I had spent so much time learning the known streets and roads of various parts of the city, it didn't seem like I would ever come upon the limits. But it turns out they come pretty fast.

In graduate school, I was instructed that my work was not to just continue and learn what others had discovered, although that would continue. My main work and path to graduation—would be to forge a path into the territory of the unknown, to discover and learn things that no one else in the world knew about. 

At this point, I began to understand better the importance of imagination. To progress beyond the limits of current knowledge requires hypothesizing about possibilities that do not yet exist. I came to appreciate that many advances in knowledge are often made by the younger practitioners, not so much because they have an extra degree of wisdom or experience or special insights, but often because they have not yet failed enough to stifle their imagination. I learned about some of the famous scientists that relied on imagination to guide their discoveries. Albert Einstein used a Gedankenexerpimente (thought experiment) to imagine riding on a light beam. String theorists imagined a world with 11 dimensions of space and time. Stephen Hawking imagined what happens on the edge of the event horizon of a black hole. And nearly every other prosaic or grand advancement in science started with a 'what-if' hypothesis.

As the famous quote from Einstein says: 

"I am enough of the artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."

—Albert Einstein

Similarly, in religious, faith-filled thought, imagination is needed to live by faith. For the faithful, there is a limit to what one knows about God and eternity in this life. Study and learning and understanding can fill some gaps, but ultimately for those who walk by faith, it requires imagination to think of what might exist beyond this life. It is the "hope" of Christ that propels us on.

Without imagination, faith and hope are concepts that are not possible. How can we look forward to life with our Heavenly Father unless we can imagine things that do not exist on this earth? How can we look to be better and follow the Savior if we cannot imagine him in our place and think about what he would do in our shoes? How can we fully repent unless we can imagine ourselves as a better person?

"Can you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying...Come unto me ye blessed"

—Alma, Book of Mormon

In the Book of Mormon, Alma writes of imagining a future state of being. He writes "Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him who created you? Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and view this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption raised in incorruption, to stand before God to be judged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body? I say unto you, can you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day: Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth?"

To continue with Paul, "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." Uncertainty and a lack of clarity are a part of this life, but we can look forward to seeing clearly in the future.

In a previous post, I discussed the tension that often exists with a limited scope of knowledge. Most religious (and scientific) belief contains some measure of conflicting knowledge and contradicting fact.  The bridge to understanding from contradiction usually involves imagination and hypothesis along the way. It takes imagination to start to hypothesize and understand how contradicting thoughts can be resolved and how seeming inconsistencies can be resolved with a bigger picture.

"Our imagination is stretched to the utmost, not, as in fiction, to imagine things which are not really there, but just to comprehend those things which are there."

—Richard Feynmann

In contrast with my past self, I now love imagination. I rely on fantasy, imagination, and hypothesis to help me understand the world as it really is, and as it really will be. As Richard Feynmann said, "Our imagination is stretched to the utmost, not, as in fiction, to imagine things which are not really there, but just to comprehend those things which are there."

I use imagination to picture how my future self would act and behave, and how I can get from my current state to my future state. I use imagination to help myself draw closer to God, to understand the world that he lives in, and how I can learn to be more like him. In short, I've come to understand that imagination is the key to reality.