We all use our imaginations to think about how things are, were, or could be. We can imagine what life is like for someone on the other side of the world, or what culture was like 1,000 years ago, or how we will travel in the future. We can imagine alternate realities and creatures like unicorns.
But how far does imagination actually reach? When we imagine something, are we discovering a genuine possibility, or simply rearranging ideas we already possess? A unicorn combines a horse and a horn: has imagination created something genuinely new, or merely recombined what was already there?
In the first half, we'll ask whether imagination is a reliable guide to what is genuinely possible. Is everything we can picture something that could, in some sense, be real? Wittgenstein wrote "The limits of my language mean the limits of my world." Can we imagine things that are impossible? And what do we mean by "real" in the first place; Sherlock Holmes really is a fictional character, but he isn't real in the same way Napoleon was, or Keir Starmer is, or HS2 might be.
In the second half, we'll look at where our imagination comes from. Our imagination is shaped by our language, the culture we live in, and the stories we read. But if the limits of our imagination are constrained by experience, what does that mean for how we understand each other and the world?
Questions:
First half
- What do we mean when we say something is possible?
- How does imagination help us think about possibility?
- Can we imagine the impossible?
- What's the relationship between fiction, possibility and reality?
Second half
- How do our experiences, such as language, culture, and stories, shape or limit our imagination?
- Can we understand people whose ways of imagining the world are very different from ours?
- Are there things that only some people can imagine, or can anyone imagine anything with enough explanation and shared language?
- What are the implications for how we understand each other and the world?
PiPs is part of a national movement to encourage people to think about some of the 'big ideas' in life. No expertise necessary, only the desire to do what Wittgenstein described as 'untangling the knots in the way we think about things'.
It is a collective activity, not a debating club.
Everyone attending, and there is often a wide range of people present, is encouraged to listen to and engage with the topic. We hope it is fun and provides plenty of food for thought.
The organisers are trying to find ways to collect money from attendees towards the costs of running the sessions, mostly the costs of using this Meetup site. One of the organisers has something on their phone that can take payments. Suggested amount? Just a few quid now and again for regulars. For anyone turning up for the first time, it's free.
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