Prompt 30. What role does imagination play in producing knowledge about the world?

TOK Talk · Role of Imagination!

This is one that I could discuss endlessly. Who doesn’t love imagination? I actually recorded this (and a few more episodes coming soon!) nearly a year ago and have been waiting for the right time. Now seems like the right time for this one, especially as we’re talking about the role of imagination in allowing us to understand and empathize with circumstances outside of our own world.

We did go down a little LOTR rabbit hole in this one, let me know if you agree with what we said! But to bring it back to TOK, we talked about imagination in arts, literature, science, history... But we also just discussed the nature of imagining - how do we all imagine differently? Is your imagination a blank canvas? An audio box? Is it a recreation of senses in your mind? How much does it infiltrate your daily narrative? What is imagination? How is it different than reasoning or brainstorming? Is reason and imagination different versions of a similar way of thinking? Is it enough that imagination plays the role of fun and entertainment in producing knowledge about the world? Does it just make things more real and more fun?

Links in relation to this talk:

• Haruki Murakami- a Japanese Author (I absolutely love) the short story I mentioned in this talk is called ‘The Kangaroo Communique’ in the book ‘The Elephant Vanishes’.
• “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” (King James Bible, Ecclesiastes 1:9)

I really enjoyed this conversation and am immensely grateful for my guests on this (and all episodes) as well as the musicians that help me to put these together. If you’re interested in joining me, please Contact me!

Guests: Brett Fisher, Monica Wahl
Music: Hilary Ng playing in the hallway at school