Albert Einstein said that "Imagination is more important than knowledge." This quote is lovingly painted on the walls of the
American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland, an amazing museum of folk and outsider art.
So why would one of the most intelligent people in the history of the world say such a thing?
My theory is that there is a dearth of imagination in the world today. What is imagination? In some cases, it is literally being able to imagine yourself in someone else's shoes and creates feelings of empathy. To be able to empathize, you need to be able to imagine.
The part B to this theory of mine is that perhaps our culture has become somewhat narcissistic because it suffers from a lack of imagination. We live in a society that lives inside its own brain and does not often venture out to try to understand how other people's (or culture's) brains work.
Cultures that don't plan well also suffer from a lack of imagination. To able to manage time and plan for a long term future, we must be able to imagine what we want, how to go about getting it, and a rough time frame of goals. No imagination equals no planning.
In our education system, the idea of imagination is most closely connected with art but even Einstein knew that this was not necessarily so. He used his imagination to further the field of science a discipline ruled by theories, data, and proof. I think that educational systems worldwide need to look at how imagining, imagination, and visualization can aid in all disclines and in all areas of life. What do you think?
