IMAGINATION 



to a certain problem, hold attention on that problem and appraise 

 the various suggestions thrown up by the subconscious mind. 

 The intellectual element in thinking is, Dewey says, what we do 

 with the suggestions after they arise. 



Other things being equal, the greater our store of knowledge, 

 the more likely it is that significant combinations will be thrown 

 up. Furthermore, original combinations are more likely to come 

 into being if there is available a breadth of knowledge extend- 

 ing into related or even distant branches of knowledge. As 

 Dr. E. L. Taylor says : 



" New associations and fresh ideas are more likely to come 

 out of a varied store of memories and experience than out of 

 a collection that is all of one kind." ^"^ 



Scientists who have made important original contributions 

 have often had wide interests or have taken up the study of a 

 subject different from the one in which they were originally 

 trained. Originahty often consists in finding connections or 

 analogies between two or more objects or ideas not previously 

 shown to have any bearing on each other. 



In seeking original ideas, it is sometimes useful to abandon 

 the directed, controlled thinking advocated by Dewey and allow 

 one's imagination to wander freely — to day-dream. Harding 

 says all creative thinkers are dreamers. She defines dreaming in 

 these words : 



" Dreaming over a subject is simply . . . allowing the will to 

 focus the mind passively on the subject so that it follows the 

 trains of thought as they arise, stopping them only when unprofit- 

 able but in general allowing them to form and branch naturally 

 until some useful and interesting results occur." ^^ 



Max Planck said : 



" Again and again the imaginary plan on which one attempts 

 to build up order breaks down and then we must try another. 

 This imaginative vision and faith in the ultimate success are 

 indispensable. The pure rationalist has no place here."^° 



In meditating thus, many people find that visualising the 

 thoughts, forming mental images, stimulates the imagination. It 

 is said that Clerk Maxwell developed the habit of making a 

 mental picture of every problem. Paul Ehrlich was another 

 great advocate of making pictorial representations of ideas, as 



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