The Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination at UC San Diego held an evening of discussion to illuminate what imagination itself is and how we advance our understanding of its powerful role in human life and culture. While exciting new research is illuminating aspects of how imagination functions—neurologically, cognitively, and socially—at times even defining the term "imagination" changes depending on the context. For some, imagination simply means the ability to produce mental images. For others, it is our capacity to think of things not present but real—to project into future scenarios or review events from the past via "mental time travel." But imagination also plays an essential part in thinking of things that have never been and may never be, underlying creativity and, according to some, our ability to think anything at all, as well as encompassing non-rational operations of the mind.
Over the course of this evening, Clarke Center–affiliated faculty from neuroscience, psychology, philosophy, cognitive science and linguistics shared insights from their research, debate these differing definitions for “imagination,” and suggest future directions for imagination studies.
Panelists include:
• Lera Boroditsky (Professor of Cognitive Science; Editor in Chief of Frontiers in Cultural Psychology)
• Leanne Chukoskie (Associate Director for the Research on Autism and Development Laboratory; Director of the Power of NeuroGaming (PoNG) Center)
• Adena Schachner (Professor, Psychology; Director, Mind and Development Lab)
• Clinton Tolley (Professor, Philosophy; Mexican Philosophy Lab)
• Erik Viirre (Professor, Neurosciences; Director, Clarke Center)
For more information, please visit imagination.ucsd.edu.
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