Inês Hipolito

When a Post correspondent interviewed Albert Einstein about his thought process in 1929, Einstein did not speak of careful reasoning and calculations. Instead he said, “imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination circles the world” (1929). According to Thomas Nagel, imagination makes possible all our thinking about what is, what has been, and perhaps most important, what might be. Here, I will consider the idea that all aspects of higher-order levels of imaginative information processing interact with existing systems, and eventually expand beyond to form new systems. Imagination appears fundamental for humans to operate flexibly and effectively in highly complex social groupings, to contemplate complex plans for possible (and impossible) future action; and to envisage the consequences without enacting them. On an historical background, the science of imagination has evolved, coalesced, and split apart in keeping with changing philosophical and epistemological worldviews. With some contributions from philosophy in respect to imagination’s metaphysical aspects, science has made some progress regarding the cognitive functions correlated with human imagination. Key questions for future research should include how the capacity for imagination evolved, how it is expressed and how imagination operates in thinking and learning. Functional magnetic resonance imaging has helped us understand how sensory inputs and imagination are not as distinct as they seem. Using imaging techniques, scientists have found that the same cells are activated during sensory perception and imaginative recall. In this presentation, I will explore the question of whether mental simulation could modulate brain’s activity. If so, could a mental experience of pure thought be a doorway to brain enhancement?