Brain Food #764
The limitless bounds of human imagination
Thoughts of the day
To close this week’s theme of awe, we might also need to look within.
When we are caught in a web of tiny concerns, we might easily forget to give ourselves enough time to pause and explore a big idea, like a philosophical school of thought or the Big Bang, which can have the same effect as pausing to see a spectacle of nature, like a brilliant sunset or a thunderstorm taking place in the night sky, only some kilometres away from where we stand.
What is most awe-inspiring of all may be the limitless bounds of human imagination and the resourcefulness of mankind. Beyond the ability to reason, it is also our imagination that sets us apart from other animals. We make up stories, we look into what we don’t understand or what we are curious about, we invent what we need (like electricity), what we never thought we would need (like smartphones), and what we could have done without (like nuclear weapons).
In her autobiography The Heart of a Woman, Maya Angelou wrote, “If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform a million realities.” And if luck is an attitude, then what is holding us back, both from experiencing the world in its fullness but also in contributing to it, is the limits we set to our very own imagination.
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Stinking interesting!