The list of images that a person operates during his life includes not only objects or phenomena that exist in objective reality. This may be something that was not previously perceived directly by the individual: the distant past or future, places where he never happens and never will be, living creatures that do not exist in the Universe. Answering the question of what is imagination, the main characteristic of which is an amazing image for everyday life, we can say that this is going beyond the real world both in time and in space.
However, the everyday and scientific definitions of human fantasies are very different. In the first case, it is only all unreal, not corresponding to the reality surrounding us, and therefore not endowed with any practical significance. Scientists do not quite share the opinion of ordinary people on what imagination is. The definition of it from a scientific point of view covers all aspects of the cultural life of the individual and provides an incentive for the development of artistic, scientific and technical creativity.
About the phenomenon of imagination
Man is the only living creature on our planet that is capable of fantasizing, that is, reflecting the future and acting in accordance with the expected (imaginary) situation, using his feelings, perception and thinking.
Speaking about what imagination is in biology, we can say that these are cognitive processes of representing any future events, which are based on the creation of new images, processed as a result of perception, thinking and knowledge about the world of a particular individual, which were obtained in previous life situations. The essence of any fantasy is the transformation of objective reality in which there are objects and phenomena that do not have any points of contact with reality. This phenomenon is the most important in the process of becoming a person as an acting subject.
About thinking and imagination
The Soviet psychologist Lev Semenovich Vygotsky called these two processes close in structure and function. They are characterized by them as extremely related, with similar origin and structure. Speaking about what imagination is in psychology, the scientist considered it a necessary, inalienable moment of thinking, especially creative, explaining this by the fact that the thinking process includes both forecasting and anticipation of events.
Various problem situations make a person think, fantasize, and form in the mind an idea of what can be done, strengthening the motivation for finding a solution and determining its direction. The degree of uncertainty of controversial aspects of life determines the importance of the role of the imagination, which fulfills its functions even when the initial situation is incomplete, supplementing it with the products of its activity.
The law of the emotional reality of the imagination of L. S. Vygotsky
Speaking of what imagination is in psychology, one cannot ignore its connection with emotional-volitional processes, called, in accordance with the teachings of Leo Vygotsky, the law of the emotional reality of imagination. Its main manifestation is the appearance of true, not imaginary, emotions when any image appears in the human mind. This helps to realize the desired and prevent unwanted psychological effects. For example, reflecting on a particular situation, a person may experience unpleasant emotions when thinking about a certain scenario, which forces him to look for other ways to solve the problem.
Continuing the theme of what imagination and fantasy are, it is worth mentioning the fact that both have an effect on human emotions and feelings. The most striking manifestation of this postulate is frequent anxiety about not real, but imaginary events. The surest way to handle this is to change the fictional image. This will help reduce anxiety and relieve psychological stress.
"Trying" on the experiences of other people helps to form and show feelings towards them, such as empathy or empathy. Presenting in their minds when performing any actions their final result, a person encourages himself to complete them. The brightness of the image is directly related to the motivating force, but its realism and significance play a major role.
Imagination is one of the significant factors affecting the comprehensive development of the individual. The ideals rooted in fantasies, to which a person aspires, trying to imitate them, become examples for him, in accordance with which he organizes his life activity, personal and moral development.
What are human fantasies?
Earlier, we have already outlined in general terms what imagination is. The definition and characteristics of a narrower nature directly depend on what kind of speech is involved in each specific case under consideration.
Imagination is divided into several types.
According to the degree of focus, it can be ::
According to the results:
By the degree of volitional efforts:
Also, an individual’s imagination may be:
- recreating;
- creative;
- realistic
- sociological.
Active fantasies
Answering the question “What is an active imagination?”, We can characterize it as the process of creating various images in the individual’s brain that will be realized in the future through practical efforts and actions and reflected in the products of human activity. This type of fantasy is sometimes time consuming and requires a lot of effort. Nevertheless, it helps to increase the creative content and effectiveness of both the labor and other types of activities of the individual.
Passive fantasies
Speaking about what a passive imagination is, it should be specially noted that it in no way pushes a person to perform active actions, and therefore does not carry any practical meaning. Its main purpose is to satisfy the ambitions of a person painted by the same images. The dreamer himself in this case does not seek to translate his dreams into real life or dreams of what is impossible. Such a person is called a utopian or barren dreamer.
Productive fantasies
Speaking of what human imagination is, we usually mean those dreams in which there are a huge number of new, unlike or little resembling already known dreams, fantastic elements. Their experts are considered productive. This type of imagination can be reflected in various cultural fields, especially in painting and literature.
Reproductive imagination
This species is characterized by the fact that in its results in large numbers there are already used fantasy elements by someone previously, although there is also something new. Basically, these are attempts by people starting their career to create their works based on well-known examples, and thus improve their professional skills.
Hallucinations
Speaking of what imagination is, in most cases we mean the fact that it is born out of the thinking of a healthy person. However, hallucinations are a product of altered consciousness. The reason for their occurrence may be mental illness, hypnotic effects, the use of drugs or alcohol and other psychotropic substances.
Dreams
These products of the human imagination are aimed at the future desired by man. They mainly contain quite real and, as a rule, feasible plans regarding study, work, career and family. This form of imagination is characteristic of young people who have a large part of life ahead of them.
Daydreams
This peculiar type of fantasy is characterized by isolation from objective reality, and in most cases it will never work to realize images from them. They are a cross between hallucinations and dreams, but it should be remembered that, unlike the former, dreams are products of the activity of normal human consciousness.
Dreams
Dreams have always been of particular interest to specialists studying brain activity. Today, scientists are inclined to believe that they reflect the process of consciousness processing of various information, and dreams are not only functionally associated with this activity, but can also contain human dreams and dreams, as well as new valuable ideas and discoveries. Here it is appropriate to recall the Russian chemist Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev, who, according to legend, saw in a dream a periodic system of elements called later by his name.
Involuntary fantasies
Speaking of what imagination is, experts somehow connect it with the will of man. Images with its involuntary type are created as a result of the activity of a weakened consciousness. This may be half asleep or a state of sleep, as well as some mental disorders. The process in this case is not controlled in any way and is completely unconscious.
Arbitrary imagination
This type is attributed to a conscious, directed activity, in which the individual fully understands its motives and goals. It is characterized by the deliberate creation of images, and the arbitrariness and activity of the imagination are combined in various ways. Vivid examples of passive arbitrary imagination are dreams, and active - a long-term purposeful search, characteristic for the work of writers, artists and the work of inventors.
Recreating Imagination
This type is based on the creation of images of objects not previously perceived by the individual in their finished form, despite the fact that he has an idea of such objects and their individual elements. Probably everyone knows what spatial imagination is. But not everyone understands that it is recreational. All images are formed in reality through drawings, drawings and other similar schemes using the knowledge available about them. Elements are more flexible, diverse, dynamic and reproductive.
Creative imagination
It is a process of independent creation by the creator of new, nothing like images embodied in the original results of various kinds of activity. At the same time, the creator’s indirect reliance on his past life experience is minimal, and the main role is played only by the flight of his imagination.
Realistic imagination
It takes place with faith in the possibility of realizing the created images. It is characterized by anticipation of the future, an ideal presentation of the result before it is achieved. There are many examples in the literature of how an image or situation, born only of the imagination of the writer and considered unrealistic, is exactly repeated in objective reality.
Sociological imagination
It is difficult to argue that the life of an individual cannot be separated from the life of society. Speaking about what is a sociological imagination, we can say that this is the ability to recognize the relationship of everything that happens in reality, taking into account structural, cultural and historical conditions. Within the framework of this variety, actions performed by both individual and collective social entities that form a complex and heterogeneous human society are also considered.
Having talked in detail about what imagination is, highlighting its various types and describing their features, we can safely say that none of the many types of creativity can be imagined without an element of fantasy, be it science, literature, painting. In a general sense, this is an anticipation of what is not yet available, but which, perhaps, will become part of our life. Imagination is directly related to intuition, conjecture, insight. Each person is more or less inclined to fantasize, but do not forget about real life, so that dreams do not become painful hallucinations, and built castles in the air do not collapse on gray everyday life.