Imagination and Knowledge by Gary Lachman

Описание: 'What is the imagination? Generally we think of it as in some way a substitute for reality, a form of ‘make believe,’ of escaping from the difficult, stubborn everyday world we know so well, into a different, better, more congenial one – that, more often than not, unfortunately exists only inside our head. Or we see imagination as a useful tool in grasping opportunities, producing novel, innovative ways in which some product or activity can get ahead of its competitors and occupy a place on the ‘cutting edge.'

Certainly these notions of imagination are accurate, as far as they go. But what if rather than providing us with an ‘alternate reality,’ the imagination is actually deeply involved in bringing into being the very reality from which it ostensibly wants to escape? What if imagination, rather than being about ‘make believe,’ is actually about ‘make real?’

'Lost Knowledge of the Imagination is my attempt to articulate some of the basics of this “learning of the imagination'. Gary Lachman Where does this knowledge of the imagination leave us today? The author argues that we have entered a time when the idea that imagination has the power to affect reality itself – directly, and not through the medium of culture – seems to have become a topic of interest, while reality itself has become something rather different than what it used to be. Is it possible that the obscurity in which the knowledge of the imagination was kept for so long is now starting to clear, and the true meaning and significance of our imagination is coming to light? We know that with great power comes great responsibility. Will we have the strength and purpose to meet this challenge? Let’s imagine.