Is anything truly "Beyond imagination"? (1 Viewer)

[Howard Williams]

Is "beyond imagination" a bogus term? Is imagination limitless? I know there are things beyond my comprehension. I know there are things I have not imagined but I feel I am capable of imagining anything.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Possibly. But we'd never know.

 

[Ike]

Hmmm....it could be a discussion of semantics. Yes, you can imagine anything, but can you imagine it somewhat correctly? Can you truly imagine the vastness of the universe? The start of everything? Infinity?
(Excerpted from Conversations of A Stoner. )

 

[Jared_B]

If the three dimensions are X, Y and Z - with the fourth dimension being time, can you possibly imagine the fifth or even sixth dimensions? Maybe you can, and maybe you are right - we can imagine anything. But we could be wrong...

 

[CharlesD]

I can't imagine anything that is truly beyond imagination.

 

[Leila Dougan]

I think we have great mental capacity, far greater than what we use. Is our imagination limitless? I can't imagine it isn't.. .ok ok, I know, bad joke
Seriously, though, it seems like the chicken and the egg problem. Objects we make don't exist without someone imagining it yet its near impossible to imagine something without a hint it may be there in the first place.
With nature, as far as the universe and life, all those "big important" questions we like to ask ourselves, obviously nobody knows the real answer. I think we can sit around and think of different dimensions, time travel, the meaning of life (42, eh?) but we could be really wrong. Unless there is something there to hint to us and point us into the general direction, our imagination will be limited to what we've already experienced.

 

[BrianW]

Is imagination limitless? I know there are things beyond my comprehension.

Lately, I find myself thinking the opposite, that comprehension may be more limitless than imagination. Jared’s example is a good one. If our universe is actually 10 dimensions (a theory that is all the rage now), with six of those dimensions beyond our ability to observe them, then I can comprehend this notion, and I can even perform calculations involving those unseen dimensions. But can I imagine them? I may be pretty good at imagining the fifth (fourth spatial) dimension, but I can’t come close to imagining or picturing anything higher than that. My brain simply has no reference point to wrap itself around, and it cannot begin to picture what life would be like in the sixth, much less the tenth, dimension. When it comes to a ten-dimensional universe, I find that my comprehension far exceeds my imagination. And I find myself frustrated at the prospect that just because I can think of it and comprehend it, that doesn’t mean I can actually imagine it.

 

[Garrett Lundy]

If you try to imagine something and you black-out. You've tried to imagine an unimaginable thing

 

[RobertR]

I agree with your post, Brian. It is utterly impossible for humans to imagine 10 spatial dimensions. Our brains simply aren't built for it. We can deal with that many dimensions mathematically, but we cannot imagine them spatially.

I also do not think we can literally imagine "nothingness". Anything we try to conjure up in our minds would be self contradictory, since we would then have "something" there.

 

[Daren Welsh]

From Jim Heuson and Don Taylor, announcers in EA's NHL 2002:

"That shot was so hard it's incomprehensible!", screams Jim.

Don mutters back, "Huh? I don't understand."

 

[Julie K]

It is utterly impossible for humans to imagine 10 spatial dimensions.

I do it all the time.
"There are 10 spatial dimensions!"
There, I just imagined that there are 10 spatial dimensions. Visualization is not necessary for imagination.
And as for visualizing nothingness, well, I get that far too often when I look in my wallet.

 

[BrianW]

Visualization is not necessary for imagination.

No, but imagination is certainly necessary for visualization. In that respect, I find that my imagination is indeed limited.

I believe there is a more fundamental question here. How intelligent is intelligent enough? Are we, as a species, capable of eventually understanding everything we may encounter in this Universe? We imagine that there may be other species out there that are more intelligent than we are, but how much more intelligent, really, does a species need to be in order to eventually understand everything it encounters? Certainly, imagination plays a huge part in understanding new phenomena. Are imagination and intelligence inextricably linked, or perhaps even the very same thing?

 

[Shane Gralaw]

Well, apparently every new Sci-fi film being marketed today is beyond your imagination, if you believe the tag lines.

 

[Leila Dougan]

Shane, you've got that right! However, if the movie has been made, it appearently wasn't beyond the imagination of the writers, directors, actors, producers, etc. Its quite presumptious of them to assume that all the people who made the movie have bigger imaginations than us "commoners".

 

[RobertR]

Visualization is not necessary for imagination.

Ok, then you can't visually imagine 10 dimensions.
If your wallet is a visual example of nothingness, does that mean your credit card is a visual example of a black hole?

 

[Jack Briggs]

Robert, you know how Julie is. Ignore that sort of flamebait!
The thing I've always pondered is if we even know the proper questions to ask when trying to comprehend the Universe? Think of the possibilities with a mind that is much more evolved over our present capabilities. Think what such a mind could comprehend.
I think we have a lot of evolutionary turns to take before we really start comprehending the awe and mystery of this supremely dazzling natural universe of ours. As J.B.S. Haldane wrote (and Arthur Clarke often repeated), "The Universe is not only stranger than we imagine, it's stranger than we can imagine!"
I wish I could imagine at that level.

 

[CRyan]

How about the beginning or end of time? How can you imagine forever or how can you imagine the lack of existence before the beginning?

C. Ryan

 

[RobertR]

can you imagine the lack of existence before the beginning?

yeah, it's pretty hard to imagine the lack of existence er, existing.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Unless you take the easy approach--see Julie's post.

 

[RobertR]

Ah! "I think, therefore it is not!"