We have five senses which show us the reality of the world around us. We also have imagination which is unlimited. We can imagine anything, When I see a tree, I know it is there, However, if I am in the desert I can imagine a tree which isn’t there and as long as I am realistic, I know it isn’t there. If I am delusional I can believe it is there. I can touch (feel) an object and therefor know it is real but I can also imaging an object when in reality it isn’t there but I wish it was. The same reasoning goes for hearing, smelling and tasting. Our senses send chemical and electrical signals to the brain which then must interpret it to inform us what these signals really mean. Since our birth we learn their meaning by trial and error until we separate imagination from reality and live objects from non-animated ones. An imaginary friend, that many children envision, eventually gives way to reality.
Imagination, however does not have such limits, we can imagine anything, whether it is an imaginary tree or an alien in a UFO. Books are written, imagining other worlds, impossible physics, monsters, ghosts, miracles and so on and on. We can speculate without limit on “solutions” about non-existing phenomena and about things we still do not understand but they have no real value until we have some realistic evidence that there is some truth to these speculations. Sometimes we find that evidence, sometimes the evidence is contradictory and then we must adjust our speculation accordingly. If we accumulate more evidence, the speculation can become a theory and some theories accumulate so much observable evidence that they become facts, even if these facts later need finer adjustments when more knowledge accumulates.
Imagination with no evidence is of course great as a thought experiment and is unlimited but not proof of anything. Conclusions drawn from an imaginary condition is tempting but has no value. When, without any evidence, we conclude that since we observe thunder and lighting there must be a god “Thor” throwing his hammer into the sky, there is no connection between the observation and the imaginary cause. The same goes for the “argument that the universe is so complicated, fine tuned and large that there must be a creator. Here again there is no connection between an observable fact and the speculation of its cause.
When writing became invented, many of these imaginary guesses were written down. Based on later observations some were found to point in the right direction. Some needed to be disregarded but were not. We now know the world is round and not flat as deduced from earlier observations. We must adjust with new findings.
Speculation about the existence of a Deity is pure imagination. No observable facts. Instead the current knowledge point in the direction of random events being the case. Prayers being heard some times and sometimes not , the miracle healings which sometimes occurs to religious and non-religious people, are proof of random events., good luck or bad luck! We should rely on human knowledge and painfully acquired experience through trial and error. No cancer cure was “coded “ in the Bible as some want to make us believe. Imagining the supernatural is an easy way out which creates more problems and delays the progress of our continues search for true answers by pretending that we have already all the answers.
Imagination is important and has its place because it does starts our thinking “outside the Box” of our five direct senses but we must reject those which show no observable evidence.
Imagination, however does not have such limits, we can imagine anything, whether it is an imaginary tree or an alien in a UFO. Books are written, imagining other worlds, impossible physics, monsters, ghosts, miracles and so on and on. We can speculate without limit on “solutions” about non-existing phenomena and about things we still do not understand but they have no real value until we have some realistic evidence that there is some truth to these speculations. Sometimes we find that evidence, sometimes the evidence is contradictory and then we must adjust our speculation accordingly. If we accumulate more evidence, the speculation can become a theory and some theories accumulate so much observable evidence that they become facts, even if these facts later need finer adjustments when more knowledge accumulates.
Imagination with no evidence is of course great as a thought experiment and is unlimited but not proof of anything. Conclusions drawn from an imaginary condition is tempting but has no value. When, without any evidence, we conclude that since we observe thunder and lighting there must be a god “Thor” throwing his hammer into the sky, there is no connection between the observation and the imaginary cause. The same goes for the “argument that the universe is so complicated, fine tuned and large that there must be a creator. Here again there is no connection between an observable fact and the speculation of its cause.
When writing became invented, many of these imaginary guesses were written down. Based on later observations some were found to point in the right direction. Some needed to be disregarded but were not. We now know the world is round and not flat as deduced from earlier observations. We must adjust with new findings.
Speculation about the existence of a Deity is pure imagination. No observable facts. Instead the current knowledge point in the direction of random events being the case. Prayers being heard some times and sometimes not , the miracle healings which sometimes occurs to religious and non-religious people, are proof of random events., good luck or bad luck! We should rely on human knowledge and painfully acquired experience through trial and error. No cancer cure was “coded “ in the Bible as some want to make us believe. Imagining the supernatural is an easy way out which creates more problems and delays the progress of our continues search for true answers by pretending that we have already all the answers.
Imagination is important and has its place because it does starts our thinking “outside the Box” of our five direct senses but we must reject those which show no observable evidence.
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