Understand the universe discussion

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What are the limitations of our imagination?

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message 1: by Michael (new)

Michael (odesbook) | 21 comments Mod
Do there exist things that are not observable, but belong to the imaginable?


message 2: by Michael (new)

Michael (odesbook) | 21 comments Mod
Pauling on imagination, with some of my thoughts, http://learnyourdream.tumblr.com/post...


message 3: by Dokusha (new)

Dokusha | 14 comments As a little side note: ever thought about how actually our knowledge may be the limiting factor for our imagination? More precisely, for instance we have more problems imagining something we know (or think) is impossible.


message 4: by Dokusha (new)

Dokusha | 14 comments It's also sometimes preventing us from finding the best solution of aproblem: this happens when this solution transgresses what we think is possible.


message 5: by Dokusha (new)

Dokusha | 14 comments Well, it's more a question of implicit assumptions than of actual knowledge. You know probably the riddle of the 9 dots set in a 3x3 square that you shall all connect with four straight lines (and then three which requires you to think again out of the box). These things I had in mind - that happens all the time for real problems.


message 6: by Dokusha (new)

Dokusha | 14 comments It can, yes. Because discipline basically tells us to comply with the rules. Which becomes a burden when it's the rules that are wrong.


message 7: by Dokusha (new)

Dokusha | 14 comments That's why there are very few people who are both organized and creative - those are contradicting capacities.


message 8: by Yabido (new)

Yabido | 1 comments People really imagine some things. Most of these things are occurring in nature. But the fact is how long are we going to discover thoughts of nature.


message 9: by Mohamed (new)

Mohamed Yosri (yosri) Imagination is what is known as wishfully thinking.


message 10: by Dokusha (new)

Dokusha | 14 comments Not necessarily. Often imagination is the key to problem solving.


message 11: by Mohamed (new)

Mohamed Yosri (yosri) Yes it is. You wish to solve the problem, thus problem solving. Some can be logical, most is not.

Example, I wish to be rich. I can go in business, buy lottery, or, simply "I wish I be rich" wishfully.


message 12: by Bekka (new)

Bekka | 7 comments Mohamed wrote: "Imagination is what is known as wishfully thinking."

Einstein thought that imagination was absolutely essential for scientific learning. One has to be able to creatively ponder what might be possible to find new topics for exploration.


message 13: by Dokusha (new)

Dokusha | 14 comments That's in part what I was thinking at when I wrote about imagination being the key to problem solving. Without imagination no creativity which is often needed to solve a problem.


message 14: by Bekka (new)

Bekka | 7 comments Dokusha wrote: "That's in part what I was thinking at when I wrote about imagination being the key to problem solving. Without imagination no creativity which is often needed to solve a problem."

Thumbs up.


message 15: by Anthony (new)

Anthony (isaiah18376) | 1 comments Michael wrote: "Do there exist things that are not observable, but belong to the imaginable?"

I'm not sure what you really intended to ask in this question because the notion of EXISTENCE is very vague. It really depends on what you are talking about. For instance, unicorns might not exist in reality, but it certainly does "exist" as a conceptual entity in the heads of most children or among the pages of a fairy tale storybooks. Hence, the only way to pin point whether something exist or not is by precisely defining the "world" or the universal set in question.
Therefore, the answer depends on the intended meaning designated by the term "thing". If "things" can refer to conceptual entities that we humans came up with, then the answer would of course be yes. The best example is the ether concept that was "imagined" by most physicists in the old days until Einstein came along a showed that there is actually no need for it, plus people can't detect it anyway. However, if "things" only refers to entities that exist in physical reality, then the answer is that we will never know. Because if the object is unobservable by nature, then we can't know whether they are there reality or not even if we are lucky enough to imagine it in our minds.


message 16: by Simon (new)

Simon (toastermantis) | 2 comments I just finished reading "UFOs: Operation Trojan Horse" by John A. Keel, which suggests exactly that and spins a convoluted theory-of-everything to explain paranormal phenomena like not just UFOs but also angels, demons, vampires and whatnot by positing them as some type of immaterial shapeshifting intelligences that live outside the frequencies of light and sound visible to humans.


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