When
I first set out to explore the subject of human imagination, more than 18
months ago, I hadn’t the faintest idea that I would be led on the journey that
has culminated in these last 20 entries. I had expected to produce a total of perhaps
5 or 6 entries covering the limits of imagination, its possible evolution and
some thoughts about its relation to learning and education. Instead I have encountered
theories, research and discussions that have radically altered my understanding,
not just of imagination but of the nature of consciousness and most especially
of the indispensible role that our capacity to produce representations plays in
perception, imagination and conscious action.
Complex
fields of enquiry are often a source of contrasting opinions and interpretations
and this is undoubtedly the case where imagination is concerned. Disagreements
of this kind can be an important catalyst for closer scrutiny of the issues and
more careful assessments of the available evidence. However, there are
instances where the weight of opinion on a subject becomes so overwhelming that
dissenting voices are simply drowned out of the conversation. In such circumstances the importance of discourse is easily overlooked and even the most questionable ideas can sometimes appear to be unassailable truths. One such theoretical presupposition that continues to command a significant
amount of credence amongst scientists and philosophers is the notion that mental
states necessarily involve the utilisation of representations of one kind or
another, whether they be mental images, computational data structures or mental
content. Nonetheless, a handful of scientists and philosophers interpret the
lack of evidence for such representational states as grounds for serious doubt regarding
what is sometimes called “representationalism”. As yet, no scientific study has
been successful in identifying the coordinates, structure or encoding of any
form of neural representation, yet for many influential researchers and
thinkers the supposition is all but proven.
"The most successful tyranny is not the one that uses force to assure uniformity, but the one that removes awareness of other possibilities, that makes it seem inconceivable that other ways are viable, that removes the sense that there is an outside." —Allan Bloom
The
desire to press ahead in any form of enquiry is always tantalizing, but the
temptation to do so in the absence of sufficient evidence should probably be
resisted, especially where the theoretical foundations are as uncertain as they
clearly are regarding mental representations. Where
there is no need for doubt though regarding the available evidence is in our
genetically acquired and culturally evolved capacities to produce publicly
available representations. As I have tried to clarify at various points
throughout this series of essays, as well as in associated comments, brains
have evolved as essential components in complex responsive organisms and it is
these processes of response, and the dispositions that underlie them, to
which we should be looking for insights into the workings of cognition, not to
some incompletely theorised and scientifically questionable assumptions about
representational states.
With
the help of various theories I have tried to expose some of the obvious flaws
in representationalism and to show that important alternatives exist that
provide significant explanatory potential and scope. I have also tried to show
that these alternatives offer important conceptual tools for resolving problems
that have stymied thinkers throughout history. No doubt some will find these
claims to be overly assertive or immodest on my part. Perhaps this is the price
one pays for taking an unorthodox stand on any issue. But what I hope the
reader will appreciate above all else is that the subject has been considered
carefully and that genuine shortcomings have been identified within the mainstream
theorisation of imagination and mental states.
Through
my research I have come to the conclusion that a comprehensive understanding of
genetically acquired and culturally evolved representational practices is
fundamental to the furtherance of our understanding of imagination, perception
and consciousness. Without the ability to recognise, create or use
representations it is doubtful whether consciousness of any form would be
possible and certainly there would be nothing to say or even to wonder about
regarding the nature of imagination.
