What Is Imagination?

"Imagination can be thought of as a speculative mental activity (Dacher, 2025). We can project ourselves into another situation and see or think about the world from another perspective. The content of our imagining remains available only to us, unless in some way expressed by us. Imagination is essential to human flourishing. Imagination enables us to think about possibilities and go beyond existing constraints."

"Inner imagining: Much imagining happens in our thoughts alone, invisible to others. That is, when we think privately to ourselves about something not immediately present or actual. We project ourselves into an imagined situation and imagine the experience. We can envision a sunny beach or winning a lottery. Seeing-as: Seeing-as involves recognizing one thing in its likeness to another. For example, when we see faces in the clouds, or look at materials directly at hand and picture something we could make from them."

Imagination is a deeply human tendency that occupies large parts of conscious life, including daydreaming and mind wandering. Children engage imagination through make-believe and imaginary friends. Imagination functions as a speculative mental activity enabling projection into other situations and perspectives. The content of imagining remains private unless expressed. Imagination supports human flourishing by allowing thought about possibilities, overcoming constraints, and escaping monotony. Imaginative modes include inner imagining (private mental experiences), seeing-as (recognizing likenesses, e.g., faces in clouds or envisioning uses for materials), and hypothetical thinking (considering alternative scenarios). Imagination thus generates new forms of reality and subjective experience.

Read at Psychology Today