tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post8868499399187269163..comments2024-03-28T21:32:26.550+00:00Comments on Bruce Charlton's Notions: The Reality of Imagination Bruce Charltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-35286034187222542015-08-27T07:40:39.257+01:002015-08-27T07:40:39.257+01:00@W - Sorry for the late reply, your comment was fo...@W - Sorry for the late reply, your comment was for some reason marked as Spam. <br /><br />I am unsure how to answer your question, because I do not think Barfield explains himself very well in any of the books I have encountered. <br /><br />But perhaps you might start with the collection of essays and interviews "Owen Barfield on CS Lewis"; which has several very interesting comments on imagination scattered throughout as well as a couple of essays which focus on the subject, and as a book is extremely interesting in its own right (this is assuming that you, like me, are interested by Lewis as a person)? Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-39420734101235130562015-08-25T18:02:34.763+01:002015-08-25T18:02:34.763+01:00What would you recommend for someone interested in...What would you recommend for someone interested in Barfield's thoughts on Imagination?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-5776811656623481452015-08-17T21:51:06.667+01:002015-08-17T21:51:06.667+01:00@Seijio - Agreed - I something think that the Imag...@Seijio - Agreed - I something think that the Imagination is the Trojan horse of modernity; tens of millions of people are carrying marvellous imaginative contents through life, the 'golden thread' running through the illusions and unrealities of normal 'life', which may become 'activated' at any time simply by the sudden recognition that it is *real* ...Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-40393204002843086452015-08-17T20:47:06.579+01:002015-08-17T20:47:06.579+01:00The current age has its own risks for the imaginat...The current age has its own risks for the imagination, but in some ways it is also an unprecedented window-of-opportunity which may or may not close in the future.<br /><br />Consider that in the earlier age, it would take centuries for a mythology to evolve; now a person like Tolkien or Clarke can contemplate single-handedly constructing a mythology, with enough original material for a dozen primitive peoples -- and have that material reach and motivate potentially millions of people. And -- most wonderfully -- the result does not need to be taken more seriously than it is <i>meant</i> to be. In so far as it is good for us, we can seriously hope for elves in the forest, without needing to sacrifice to them. Whereas, in earlier ages, for one person's imagination to solidify into a commonly held folk belief over generations required the glue of superstition and idolatry, which necessarily lent the subject of the belief itself a rather brutal edge, whatever the original thought of its author.Seijio Arakawahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02615803270163614513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-62158405995628833512015-08-17T17:39:15.438+01:002015-08-17T17:39:15.438+01:00@Bill - Yes, this is why the movie is a lower art ...@Bill - Yes, this is why the movie is a lower art form than the novel: the movie (at least while it is happening) is a kind of virtual reality, in which we are somewhat passively immersed: it is not so much a mobilization of the imagination. And poetry demands more imagination than the novel.<br /><br />But even movies can stimulate imagination, when considered in retrospect. The real enemy of imagination is the constant, drip-drip of distraction/ stimulation by novelty - with never a moment for imagination - as with modern social media and news. Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-69091415530764208762015-08-17T16:38:16.523+01:002015-08-17T16:38:16.523+01:00And I might go further. That is to say, our presen...And I might go further. That is to say, our present technophilic flight into virtual reality (computer games, social media, ever more convincing computer generated animation) is the result of our conclusion that the imagination isn't real. Thus "the pleasures of the imagination" that were pursued by the Romantics were found to be just as superficial as materialism (just as “material”). So we now conclude that since spirituality is a fantasy and imagination is not transcendent and materialism is unsatisfying, what is needed is the most convincing externally-generated illusions. If all is unreal, at least make falsity all-encompassing and immersive!Billhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07010574198254113925noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-90010358913814490092015-08-17T03:44:44.529+01:002015-08-17T03:44:44.529+01:00Can't help but fear that the power of imaginat...Can't help but fear that the power of imagination will be dimmed as a more and more convincing virtual reality is achieved by technology.Billhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07010574198254113925noreply@blogger.com