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It has been said that in our modern world, dominated by science, technology and industrialisation, there is no longer a place for dreaming and imagination. Indeed, some feel that imaginations and dreams are rather useless and that science and technology are the keys to a better future because they help us to solve problems. But what they fail to realize is that without dreams and imagination no scientific or tecnological advancements would have occurred. In my opinion, the capability to dream and imagine is the most important reason for the development of science, technology and our culture in general. I believe that rationalism as represented by science is not the opposite of the abstract part of the mind, but rather its creation. Scientific or technological achievements are inevitably products of creativity and imagination. Even though they are based on empirical facts, imagination is where they first appeared. Plain reasoning may give us explanations and answers, but I think that giant steps are taken when someone has enough imagination to look at things in a different way and discovers something new .
By dreams, I mean those imaginary events we think about when awake. Dreams during sleep are a part of us and, according to psychologists, important to mental health, and therefore their necessity is too self-evident to be discussed here. Daydreaming is often thought to be waste of time, because a dream is not real and unlikely to happen. However, we all have dreams. People dream of love, money, better and easier life and everything else they can imagine. Dreaming employs our imagination to create fantasies and different ways how they could come true. If nothing is done, a dream will just remain a dream. Still, dreams are useful if they do not come true. Dreams of better days ahead help us through hard times and give us a reason to live. If one has no dreams or aspirations, he or she is likely to lose willingness to live because of loss of purpose .
On the other hand, there are dreams that have come true. People strive to fulfill their personal dreams, for example by educating themselves for a better job, buying lottery tickets or asking somebody out for a date. More important, however, are those dreams which at first may have seemed impossible but finally become beneficial to the whole mankind. A case in point is the Wright brothers, who did not believe those who said that flying with a heavy machine is impossible, and that if man were meant to fly, God would have given him wings. Instead, they carried on their work and finally succeeded in fulfilling their dream of flying. This is only one example of those parts of our modern life we now take for granted, but which previously were only impossible dreams .
The modern world is dominated by science, technology and industrialisation. Because they are concerned with hard facts and real problems, they are considered valuable. Science as the study of nature and collecting information does not have much use for dreams and imagination. However, theyare related to science in the sense thatscience is a tool we have created to explain in detail the phenomena of the universe so that we could apply scientific theories to practice in technology and industry. These in turn bring us closer to the dream of better quality of life by providing us with microwave ovens, computers, nuclear power and so on. Transforming a scientific theory into new technology certainly requires use of imagination. It has been said that necessity is the mother of invention, but I think that this old phrase should also mention dream as the father and imagination as a midwife. A dream of something new, combined with a need for it can create an invention with the help of imagination .
The idea that science and technology have made dreaming and imagination unnecessary is, in my opinion, without evidence. Dreams and imagination are an integral part of our consciousness and will remain important regardless of the social change taking place in this era of rationalism. The human creature has an abstract part which complements the rational part, and these cannot be separated. If we were to abandon the abstract part, including imagination and dreaming, we would also lose emotions and creativity. Such a thought is impossible because then we would have lost our humanity as well. However, the role of dreaming and imagination has changed with the advent of science. Before empirical research, the gaps in our knowledge were filled by imagination. For example, a long time ago people used to believe that the Earth was flat. The gaps of this theory, such as what would be on the other side or what would happen if someone went too close to the edge, were explained by fantastic stories about giant monsters, demons and whatever people dreamed up. Scientific observation proved this theory to be false, and it was abandoned. Nevertheless, in the 1970's there still existed a small but devoted "Flat Earth Society" in spite of overwhelming evidence in contrast with their beliefs. The vast majority of people today rely on science to give us the information we want, and keep our dreams and imagination out of it and let them deal with other matters. Superstition and irrational beliefs have disappeared as our knowledge of the world has increased. All this does not mean that dreaming and imagination would be losing their importance, only that they are being removed from those areas in which their use is not appropriate. We can use our capability to dream and imagine to our benefit, but not in all areas of life .
I think that technology has not reduced the importance of the abstract part of the mind. On the contrary, it has given us new ways of using and expressing it. The invention of the printing press made books cheaper and easily available. With the use of a computer and a synthetizer, making music is much easier than before, and someone who cannot even read notes can now create a symphony. In addition to these improvements, technology has reduced the time needed for household work, travelling and so on, leaving us more time for ourselves. It also helps us to spend this increased free time. The entertainment industry has grown to unforeseen dimensions and provides us with food for thought via television, films, computer games and virtual reality. However, these modern phenomenons have been criticized on the grounds that ready-made fantasies reduce our need to dream and imagine, thereby causing the decline of creativity. I believe this criticism to be invalid. For example, a good book or movie can be interpreted in many ways. A good work of fiction gives us a pile of basic elements from which we choose some as a foundation for our own fantasy. Consumers of entertainment quickly lose interest in films, books or games which leave no room for imagination. The dream industry produces entertainment that feeds our dreams and imagination because that is what people want and, consequently, spend money on .
Even though science, technology and industrialisation are major factors in today's world, setting them in contrast to dreaming and imagination is not justified. Dreams and imagination are a part of our consciousness, whereas science and technology are only instruments we have created to fulfill our dreams of a better future world. We must remember that science and technology are not ends in themselves but that they exist because of their purpose, which is to serve mankind. Our capability to dream and imagine is the driving force which leads science and technology to new achievements .
