Thread:Dragonboy6491/@comment-25389622-20140907210809/@comment-25389622-20140926233428

I was in History once and I'm sure that someone was singing  For the First Time in Forever . It was OK but I was trying to do History ;-)

Not sure I'll watch  Frozen  this Friday. I have something called an 'Extended Project' to do and the deadline has crept up on me. It's a thing where you write a 5,000 or so word essay on any subject. I could easily do one based on  Frozen  but I'll have to present it to ‘actual real life people’ ;-) That's kind of what the page I set up is for any way; to explore  Frozen . I have another university to visit next Saturday as well. I think  Frozen  will be my light at the end, and I will definitely watch it when all the chaos of late has died down. I'm not sure if you do this but when you watch it use head/earphones - it really enhances the experience :-) And yes I also agree with what you said about Fridays; definitely the best day of the week, and the best day to watch  Frozen .

So, the article. I'm not going to lie, I still have questions unanswered. The topics of the article were still of great help to me, mainly concerning: why do we imagine? Can other animals imagine? And how has imagination influenced us in the building of societies?

The main discussion of the article was that as children we spend a lot of time imagining. There is something called 'the seven steps to imagination' which allowed for the emergence of imagination. They are: Theory of mind - we have different individual thoughts and we understand that not everyone’s are the same as ours; Human life history - our long childhoods help us have a prolonged period of time with no responsibilities and so allow us to explore imaginative play; specialised intelligence - we have dedicated mental modules to help us deal with specific thoughts or behaviour; language - we can create and then share our ideas; cognitive fluidity - we can create novel thoughts and ideas like metaphors and symbols; the extended mind - we have the technology to share and store information; and sedentary lifestyle - we have a settled 'farming' lifestyle. These, according to Stephen Mithen, are the conditions necessary to have an imagination like ours. The child phase of life and the adult phase can be seen as a 'division of labour'. Childhood is the dress rehearsal for the real world. This makes sense because as children we have few worries of survival, and then when we are adults we do, so the idea that we have time for imagination when we are young and then less time when we are older seems plausible. That is not to say that no adult can imagine, it's just as children we a more likely to act out our imaginative scenarios, and then as adults, those who still have their unrestricted imagination or any form of imagination, find ways to build on their childhood imagination and find other ways of conveying them. It seems as though there is little evidence to back up the idea that 'chimpanzees can imagine unicorns', and so in this respect we as people are unique in that we are less constrained and so we can explore our thoughts in greater depth.

The other interesting part of the article was to do with childhood friends and their meaning. I never had one; I didn't feel the need. But there are studies looking at how children in bad positions socially and economically appear to have a better chance of improving upon their lifestyle if they have an imaginary friend. The article does say that this may be simply correlation and not causation, but studies into the American foster care system reveals that children call upon imaginary friends for support, and that is what they offer.

What can we do with this imagination? Well as children it is very useful as a tool to help us look at the consequences of an action. One example was that say you play a tiger, and I'm the zoo keeper, and we have a box for which is a cage. What are the consequences to the other kids if we leave the door open? We can explore options and not have to deal with serious consequences. This extends then to the idea that civilisation is made up is a product of imagination. Money, geographical boundaries, tribes, nations, marriage, and even the judiciary systems we have are all products of creative thought. We need imagination for society to flourish. Imagination is a way for us to imagine scenarios without having to actually experience them, and so not having to experience their consequences either. It is a way for us to choose the best way to approach a real life situation.

My main question that wasn't answered was that, yes we have this imagination, but why is the need so great to take these ideas and formulate them into a story that is solid and feels so real? I think we addressed this to a degree at the start of our discussions, what with the need for us to explore ourselves and create, but I think there is also a bigger reason for us to engross ourselves in worlds that do not exist, at least not in our reality. There was an interesting video on the Youtube channel  Crashcourse  which has a series on psychology. In the most recent episode they talk of J.R.R. Tolkien, and how he wrote Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit series so that he could further understand the experiences he had in the First World War, and cope with the trauma he suffered. It seems as though a story can carry more weight and be more powerful if it carries messages; meaningful ones that can be applied in our own lives. That is why I love  Frozen  - it carries so much meaning. It is so magnificent in this respect and also in other ways like how the music was used to amplify the emotions in the film. These messages help people. Not only did Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit allow for J.R.R. Tolkien to understand his experiences, but they also help many others understand theirs. Although the details may be slightly different in individual situations, the messages that have an impact on them can be applied to many what may seem different scenarios. Lord of the Rings helps people, Frozen helps people, and many other products of the imagination help people. That is the idea and the message I think that all humans should live by. We are here, perhaps not by choice, but now we are here we have an obligation in helping each other in any way, shape, or form that we can. Whether it be with the creation of civilisation, or whether it be in the form of a story in where many of us can relate to its meanings and benefit from them, to help in our own lives, giving us the drive to help others as well.