Imagination - a bridge from idea to reality (and the dark side of it, too!)

When I say the word 'imagination' what comes to mind first? What age were you when you last used your imagination? I mean used it and then bragged about your skills to someone else? Were you a kid in school?

I think of SpongeBob, shaping his hands into a rainbow saying slowly, "Imagination!"  

What if I told you it's not just the stuff of childhood? In fact, it may be a superpower. It is definitely a bridge between an idea and reality.

Let's get into it.

Imagination 101

Middle English: via Old French from Latin imaginatio(n- ), from the verb imaginari ‘picture to oneself’, it is the ability of the mind to be creative or resourceful. This root definition of the term indicates the self-reflexive property of imagination, emphasizing the imagination as a private sphere.

Google charts the use of the word 'imagination' and its low point, the time when it was least used? The early 1980s was the low point of the use of the word imagination, followed closely by 1944. 

Wow.

Singularity Hub dot com asks this;

" You can easily picture yourself riding a bicycle across the sky even though that’s not something that can actually happen. You can envision yourself doing something you’ve never done before—like water skiing—and maybe even imagine a better way to do it than anyone else."

They continue, "Imagination involves creating a mental image of something that is not present for your senses to detect, or even something that isn’t out there in reality somewhere. Imagination is one of the key abilities that make us human. But where did it come from?"

Show Sources & Materials (Interesting stuff to read, listen or watch NEXT)

 The Magic of Trees, Curious Cat Podcast, iHeart Radio

Dream! Dream! Dream! Curious Cat Podcast, Buzzsprout

New theory demystifies evolution of human imagination, News-Medical.net, Sally Robertson

Imagination as defined and described by University of Chicago

The FOUR Types of Imagination, NewScientist, Adam Zeman