The
second word I brought forward as being always needed in any attempt
at communication is the word imagination.
The
ability to use the imagination effectively is sadly something not
always encouraged in the schooling process. It does however develop
as a by-product of certain disciplines within the curriculum which
are labelled under the title of creative arts. These are not always
the ones most valued in a system that places science, maths and
verifiable information at the top of the educational tree. While
imagination is hard to teach, it is nevertheless naturally built into
every growing child and parents and teachers can do much to encourage
it.
[.
. .]
Why
is imagination so important for all us? It is because it is the part
of ourselves that enables us, among other things, to understand what
another person might be feeling at any particular point.
To
put it another way, imagination enables us to enter the subjectivity
of someone else’s experience. All of us know that the world is a
better place when ordinary people have no difficulty in feeling what
other people are experiencing, whether their joy, grief or pain.
Imagination
also crosses boundaries, not only involving feeling, but also of
those of understanding. Our imagination can help us to see and at
least partly understand what another person might be thinking.
Even
if this knowledge is not complete, at least we have enough
information to grasp that there are differences between us. That
differences of thinking and feeling exist between individuals is not
something to be deplored. We need to learn to accept and respect it.
