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Without the development of science, technology and industrialization this world would be radically different from what it is now. This is due to the fact that together these three elements form the basis of the advanced lifestyle and the modern convenience of our society, which we often seem to take for granted. Although life today is certainly much easier than a century ago, there are some people who say that in this modern world there is no longer a place for dreaming and imagination. I disagree. If there were no longer a place for an emotional and creative side in human nature, many areas of life would already have begun to disappear. It is evident that without imagination all different forms of art would cease to exist, simply because there would be no creativity, which is the basis of all arts. The progress in science, technology and industrialization would also be stopped, because nothing new could be invented. It is also absurd to claim that people could not dream anymore, because if that were true there would scarcely be any demand for arts, which are essentially intended to be food for thought; a chance to dream away .
According to an encyclopedia <R> , imagination is the ability to form mental images of something not present to the senses or never before wholly perceived in reality, and to form new kinds of entities based on parts of earlier experiences. Imagination has a dominant role in all creative activities. This definition clearly implies that imagination is an indispensable ability which enables progress to occur in any human activities. If there were no place for this ability, life on this earth would soon become impossible. This is due to the fact that without imagination it would be impossible to find solutions to our huge, world-wide problems. This would result in the worsening of the existent problems and the consequent birth of further difficulties .
Another precious property only possessed by human mind is the ability to dream. That is, to indulge in daydreams or fantasies. Dreams could be seen as a product of imagination; their primary purpose is to provide a chance to escape from reality to a far more pleasant state of mind. Although there are no special devices required in dreaming, imagination can be inspired by various methods, examples of these being music, literature, painting, motion pictures and other forms of art. They give us ideas and images that we can develop further in our minds and apply them to create our own dreams. Technology has an important role in this process, because it can help to transport the ideas from their originators to us. Modern picture and sound reproduction systems make arts available in every home, leaving more time and energy for the art itself to be enjoyed. Therefore, it is justified to claim that technology does not create a threat to dreaming and imagination; instead it can add new dimensions to them .
However, the reasons for the development of the vision of a world without imagination and dreaming are not very difficult to perceive. The rapid progress of technology in particular, has provided us with innumerable possibilities of spending our time, for instance television, radio and computers. Consequently, parents do not need to use their own imagination in telling stories to their children, who in turn do not have to invent imaginary beings or worlds to entertain themselves, as was the case a few decades ago. Instead, we receive great fantasy worlds already imagined and dreamed for us to watch in the shape of soap operas and computer games. Although these forms of entertainment do not necessarily demand a great deal of thought or imagination, it must be noted that television offers much more than just soap operas; for example news, educational programs, ducumentaries, artistic programs and so on. It is also important to take account of the fact that many computer games do demand a good deal of imagination and cleverness from a player. Besides, computers are used for many different purposes in almost all areas of society. What I am saying here is that technology does not eradicate dreaming and imagination; it can actually act as a fountain of inspiration and be of irreplaceable help in realizing one's dreams .
Human mind can also be stimulated by various chemical substances, such as alcohol and drugs. These substances have a paralysing effect on brain cells and the whole nervous system, creating an unreal state of mind; a sort of escape from reality. Many artists have tried to expand their creativity by using drugs in order to experience new kinds of visions and utilize them in their work. This has often functioned to some extent at first, but serious problems have usually emerged later on in the shape of drug abuse and the consequent loss of creativity. In my opinion, this way of stimulating creativity is morally precarious, because it can be very self-destructive and produces ideas that are artificial, not natural. However, this shows how desperately people want to boost their imagination and find new methods to dream away .
It is an undoubted fact that dreaming and imagination form an essential part of human nature, which can by no means be removed without causing vast, revolutionary changes in the life of mankind and the whole earth. For the time being, these abilities cannot be replaced by means of technology either. Although very complex and demanding tasks can be performed by computers, these tasks must always be perfectly logical. Since creative activities often lack logic, computers' possibilities to create are very limited, although they can be used to facilitate the process of creation remarkably. This shows that technology is very useful and important in turning abstract ideas, the products of imagination, into concrete achievements. I believe that there is and will be a place for dreaming in our lives as well, because dreams are an irreplaceable source of life force for us; a way to escape our problems for a while and gain new strength to face them again. If there were no room for dreaming and imagination, a logical conclusion would be that our lives were already perfect with no problems left to escape from and no progress to be made. Alternatively, this could mean that we had simply lost these abilities and the whole humanity was rapidly approaching the total decline, which could only be avoided by an artificial way of replacing these elements of human nature. This all could be possible somewhere in the future, but today these alternatives seem highly unrealistic .
