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The limits of imagination
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| MrJiveBoJingles |
On another board, I made the remark that imagination (as far as constructing scenes out of a few words in a novel) is very limited, and that this is one reason why books are generally not that good at portraying action effectively. Someone there took issue with my remark, saying that the whole point of imagination was to "break free of limitation." Here's my response to him:
Imagination is extremely limited.
Try imagining a simple scene -- say, a businessman boarding a subway with a crowd of people on it. Then start asking yourself specific questions about what the businessman looks like, what the other people look like, their clothes and facial expressions, what the subway looks like, what each person on the subway is doing. Now ask yourself what sounds you hear, which people are talking and which are silent, the sounds made by the subway car itself, the sounds of the subway doors as they open.
If you're like most people, when I said, "imagine a businessman boarding a subway," you didn't really have much of all that in your head at all until I started asking questions; rather, you had a few words plus a very vague, hazy image that's quite difficult to really flesh out and hold in your mind without some very strenuous imaginative work. A film, on the other hand, provides all of that detail in a few seconds.
Now, having answered all those questions about your imagined scene, try to hold it all in your head at once and really "see" and "hear" everything as you described it to yourself based on those questions.
Tough, isn't it?
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Any thoughts? |
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| XaNaX |
| I agree, that's why I don't read books anymore |
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| Allied Nations |
| the difference between good books and bad books maybe... |
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| Silky Johnson |
| quote: | Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles
Tough, isn't it?
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No.  |
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| MrJiveBoJingles |
| quote: | Originally posted by jennypie
No. |
Then you apparently have a much better imagination than most, since people are notoriously bad at describing the physical details of what they are "imagining" if interviewed on the spot by a psychologist or neurologist.
:clown: |
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| Silky Johnson |
| Yeah, I've always had a good imagination. |
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| Project-K |
| quote: | Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles
If you're like most people, when I said, "imagine a businessman boarding a subway," you didn't really have much of all that in your head at all until I started asking questions; |
Guess I'm not like most people. As soon as I read that, I imagined a pretty detailed scene involving all of the things you mentioned above - the color of the suit, the bystanders, the sounds, the color of the subway, the color and architecture of the walls, newspapers flying by, even a couple of hoboes sleeping on a bench. :wtf:
I actually had a similar conversation with someone a while ago, and she didn't seem to understand how as soon as I'm told something or I read something somewhere, I instantly and instinctively imagine a scene in my head, and I can't not do it. It's just fundamental to the way I think and understand things. |
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| Rikard |
| quote: | Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles
Imagination is extremely limited.
Try imagining a simple scene -- say, a businessman boarding a subway with a crowd of people on it. Then start asking yourself specific questions about what the businessman looks like, what the other people look like, their clothes and facial expressions, what the subway looks like, what each person on the subway is doing. Now ask yourself what sounds you hear, which people are talking and which are silent, the sounds made by the subway car itself, the sounds of the subway doors as they open.
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I didn't find that difficult at all. Allthough, think about all the clichés you get out of that sentence.
Since it isn't that describing, I'd find it more interesting to hear what kind of image people got and you'll probably find that most people got the exakt same picture in their head. |
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| *dances* |
| I think maybe that the problem is not that imagination is limited, rather that people have become lazy with their imaginations because we now have films/movies that do all of the work for us... |
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| Cloudburst |
| I have vivid imagination and I often think of all those things, I could draw a amazing painting or make a movie about it IF I had the necessary skills. But even if I don't have all the details it doesn't matter for me when reading a book. If some parts of the environment is a bit hazy I just think of it as something in my peripheral view and whenever I wanted I could focus on it and it would become clear. |
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| thesauce23 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Project-K
Guess I'm not like most people. As soon as I read that, I imagined a pretty detailed scene involving all of the things you mentioned above - the color of the suit, the bystanders, the sounds, the color of the subway, the color and architecture of the walls, newspapers flying by, even a couple of hoboes sleeping on a bench. :wtf:
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woah so did i.. what was the color of the suit in ur picture? |
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| Allied Nations |
dark grey in mine...
it also helped i was just riding the metro this morning :) |
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