Poster of the presentation in Tucson 2006

Poster to be presented in Tucson 2006 (4-8 April)
Author: José Monserrat Neto
Contact: rijik at ufla.br

Picture 1: The Wings of Imagination

ABSTRACT

Consciousness is examined through the focus of the imagination which, traditionally, means the 'capacity' to create fictions about reality and the 'fantasies' themselves created. Here, however, imagination is viewed at the core of the origin of consciousness. Following James' approach – mind as a continuous flow of mental images – imaginary is proposed to be both a process and result of the organism-object relationship, the source of the imagination (Castoriadis). A perspective that views consciousness through the evolution of imagination is sketched.

The imaginary (organism-object relationship) is generated in three levels. The first order flow maps the organism and the environment. The second one maps the transformations of the organism during its interaction with an object, generating in a transitory form the sense of self and the representation of the object. The third order flow maps the previous mapping, generating a meta-representation of the object and self, but in a symbolic and non-transitory form. The third level is hypothetical but suggested to explain the extended capacity of imagination in higher animals. The imaginary engenders both the sense of self and the representation of the interacting object as mental images, creating “what is seen” and “what sees”, the “thinking” and the “thinker” (Damásio). Mental images and their qualia – representations – are regarded as being born from within the imaginary as a 'genuine creation' of the living being, prompted by the interacting objects.

The imaginary of others animals is mostly dedicated to find food, self preservation and procreation. The hominids' imaginary suffers a gradual rupture and loses function in terms of strict biological needs. It becomes relatively autonomous and capable of disconnecting itself from external things of here and now, and may turn back on itself: the object of the imaginary becoming the imaginary itself. This capability made possible the creation of images from images in a recursive cycle without any precedents in the biological world. The human consciousness arises as an outcome of a reciprocal and recursive interaction between the imaginary of each human being and the imagination already instituted previously and collectively in language, culture and society.

A hypothetical scenario for the evolution of imagination is sketched, explaining the emergence of first humans. From core self that composes the 'swift' primary consciousness (Damásio), this would have evolved to an episodic narrative consciousness, already symbolic, but limited. Later, through a 'community of minds' (Donald), and with the evolution of vocal language, a wholly symbolic but mythical narrative consciousness evolved. Lastly, with the creation of written records, came the reflexive consciousness of present-day humans.

The view of mind as a flow of images in three levels, and as a process and result of the organism-object relationship (imaginary), seeks to break up the antinomy between subjectivity and objectivity, and to regard the status of representation as simultaneously “real” and “fictitious”.

Finally, the role of imagination in education, art and science is analysed, and shown to be essential for understanding the creative way in which human beings learn and (re)construct their reality.

COMMENTS

This work is mainly based on Castoriadis' thesis of the creative power of the imaginary, on Damásio's theory of the emergence of self consciousness, and on Donald's description of the bio-cultural evolution of consciousness.

The perspective sketched here needs to be evaluated and developed more widely in order to prove its validity. There is so far no empirical evidences that prove the existence of the third order flow of images, and its power to create symbolic representations, but it might be empirically testable. From works of Edelman, Baars, Mithen, McCrone, Tononi, Boden, Fauconnier, Lakoff, Harris, Shanahan, Hesslow, and several other researchers, such scientific experiments might be imagined and realized.

Picture 2