Power of Imagination E-Book

Rittik Chandra

• Herausgeber: BookRix
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

Philosopher Rittik Chandra's "Power of Imagination" relates either to the past, the present or the future. It is the outright re-imagery in the mind’s eye of past experiences. It is the creation of new and original mental images or visions by the recombination of old experiential elements. It takes the elements of the past as reproduced by memory and rearranges them. It forms new combinations out of the material of the past. It forms new combinations of ideas, emotions and their accompanying impulses to muscular activity, the elements of mental “complexes.” It recombines these elements into new and original mental pictures, the creations of the inventive mind.

Leseprobe

Rittik Chandra

Power of Imagination

TO THE YOUTH OF THE WORLDBookRix GmbH & Co. KG81371 Munich

Chapter I: Imagination and Recognition

Recognizing the Past as Past

The memory process involves four elements, Retention, Recall, Recognition and Imagination.

Both Recognition and Imagination have to do with mental images.

Recognition relates exclusively to those mental images that are the replica of former experiences. It is the faculty of the mind by which we recognize remembered experiences as a part of our own past. If it were not for this sense of familiarity and of ownership and of the past tense of recalled mental images, there would be no way for us to distinguish the sense-perceptions of the past from those of the present.

Recognition is therefore an element of vital necessity to every act of memory.

Imagination, Past, Present and Future

Imagination relates either to the past, the present or the future. On the one hand, it is the outright re-imagery in the mind’s eye of past experiences. On the other hand, it is the creation of new and original mental images or visions by the recombination of old experiential elements.

Chapter II: Kinds of Mental Images

Visual Imagery

When we speak of “images” in connection with Imagination and Recognition we do not refer merely to mental pictures of things seen. Mental images are representations of past mental experiences of any and every kind. They include past sensations of sound, taste, smell, feeling, pain, motion and the other senses, as well as sensations of sight. One may have a mental image of the voice of a friend, of the perfume of a flower, just as he may have mental images of their appearance to the eye. Indeed, the term “image” is perhaps unfortunately used in this way, since it must be made to include not only mental pictures in a visual sense, but all forms of reproductive mental activity.

Our recollection of past experiences may be either full and distinct or hazy and inadequate. Some persons are entirely unable to reproduce certain kinds of sensory experiences. Somehow they are aware of having had these experiences, but they cannot reproduce them. Every one of us has his own peculiarities.

Auditory Imagery

This morning I called upon a friend in his office. I was there but a short time. Yet I can easily call to mind every detail of the surroundings. I can see the exterior of the building, its form, size, colour, window-boxes with flowers, red tile roof, formal gardens in the open court, and even many of the neighbouring buildings. I can plainly recall the colour of the carpet on his office floor, the general tone of the paper on the wall, the size, type and material of his desk, and many other elements going to make up an almost perfect mental duplicate of the scene itself. I can even see my friend sitting at his desk, and can distinctly remember the colour, cut and texture of his clothing and just how he looked when he smiled.

Imagery of Taste and Smell

Last evening we entertained a number of friends at dinner. One of the ladies was an accomplished musician, and later in the evening she delighted us with her exquisite playing upon the piano. The airs she played were familiar to me. I am fond of music and I enjoyed her playing. I can sit here today and in imagination I can see her seated before the piano and remember just how her hands looked as she fingered the keys. But I find it difficult to recall the air of the selection or the tones of the piano. My mental images of the notes as they came from the piano are faint and uncertain and not nearly so distinct and clear as my recollection of the scene.

Muscular and Tactual Imagery

I find it easy to recall the appearance of the food that was served me for breakfast this morning. I can also faintly imagine the odour and taste of the coffee and toast, but I find that these images of taste and smell are not nearly so realistic as my mental images of what I saw and heard during the course of the meal.

When I was in college I was very fond of handball and was a member of the handball team. It has been many years since I played the game, yet I can distinctly feel the peculiar tension of the right arm and shoulder muscles that accompanied the “service.” Nor do I feel the slightest difficulty in evoking a distinct mental image of the prickly sensations that so annoyed me as a boy when I would first put on woollen underwear in the fall of the year.

Personal Differences in Mental Imagery

From these examples, it is apparent that we can form mental images of past sensations of sight, sound, taste, smell and feeling, and indeed of every kind, including the muscular or motor sense and the sense of heat and cold.