Curiosity is an essential ingredient for imagining. The want and need to explore is what drives creative thinking. Reminding ourselves is essential to developing the skills in young people, which is why we’ve partnered with OKIDO to bring you a Lab Live on curiosity next month. Let’s discover the wonder of wondering. Why? “That’s the…
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We’ve talked a lot about cultivating empathy through creativity. Expanding on this thought, this article on The Conversation, from Elizabeth Reid Boyd, Arts and Humanities Lecturer at Edith Cowan University, looks at the concept of ‘moral imagination‘. It’s rare in all our explorations that we exercise and ‘train’ this tool, and especially with such a…
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What is normal? Most of us would think that we’re aware of dangerous generalisations, or even prejudices, when it comes to characterising human nature. However, as this thought-provoking article from The Conversation shows, inherent biases can run deep in the research, actually influencing our baseline assumptions without us knowing. Over the last century, behavioural researchers…
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Exciting news about our 2019 Cultural Residency, exploring the Imagination Matters theme – Empathy. Each year here at the Institute of Imagination we run a residency inspired by one of our Imagination Matters themes. Through our Imagination Lab in Lambeth, the residencies deliver collaborative, interdisciplinary projects with visitors. Following 2018’s Places to Imagine residency and the wonderful…
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While we must take the implications of technological advancement seriously, we can still get excited about the possible benefits. By its very definition, empathy is about putting oneself in another’s shoes, so what better than virtual reality, “the ultimate empathy machine”? In this article from Futurity, Alex Shashkevich, Stanford University, is exploring new research into how technology…
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But “was he right?” Is the question being asked by Rafi Letzter in LiveScience. We hear a lot about the unstoppable nature of scientific advancement, but are we ready for it? There’s an argument being made, and not just by science fiction films, for caution. Before we accept the rise of the superhumans, it’s essential that…
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In general, projects such as this are an exciting advance for science – being able to travel to, land and build on the moon are incredible achievements for mankind. However, the aims of this ambitious ‘lunar library’ initiative go one further: to store the knowledge of thousands of years of humanity. This recognition is an…
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How our imaginations work and why we have them remains a mystery befitting of their infinite nature. In this article from The Atlantic and The Wire, Oxford professor and British Academy fellow, Timothy Williamson, seeks to find some answers, and prove how the ability to think in the abstract will always be key to our survival.…
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Our ability to create is what distinguishes and defines us as humans, and what we can achieve when we pool this resource is infinite. Unfortunately, some of humanity’s more damaging endeavours can lead us to doubt our ability to effect change. In her new book, Augustin Fuentes goes on an exploration of human creativity and…
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Now more from our season on the theme of empathy. The Guardian described Raoul Martinez’s book, Creating Freedom: Power, Control and the Fight for our Future, as ‘this year’s essential text for thinking radicals’. Here we wanted to share an extract where he explores how imagination bridges the gap between the empathy we need to combat…
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