Monday, January 23, 2017

Visibility

The author of Visibility calls upon a very complex topic, one which I think has many if not infinite possibilities. I believe the argument of this chapter is questioning the origins of imagination; using the two modes of thought: imagination as an instrument of knowledge or as identification with the world soul. Do we create our own organic thoughts or are they a combination of the bits and pieces we gather from everyday life? Can thought, therefore, ever really be organic?

The author uses great points using his personal experience to choose a solution to this problem. He tunes into his own writing process, stating that an image is the first thing that comes to mind which then influences the development of a story. He symbolizes an image as the vehicle which transitions into meaning over time. This however is not persistent in his writing style because there have been times where a story had to arise from a pre developed conceptual statement.

Through contemplation, the author feels he connects more with the second standing on imagination but continues to develop his own point of view; one which I feel I stand closely with. This third approach ties in what I think to be a more modern view on imagination. One which involves the world we live in today.

He explains how the oversaturation of our minds is making the future of imagination less personal. There is becoming a blurred line between the images we believe to have created on our own versus what we subconsciously see in society. Being a communications major, I am highly educated on the world in which we live in today where on average, we are exposed to 6-10 thousand images and advertisements on an average day. Unsure of when this article was written, I uncertainly believe this author is ahead of his time in his questioning of: "What will be the future of the individual imagination in what is usually called the "civilization of the image?""

In light of where I stand with imagination, I too believe it is with the world soul. I believe that every thought or idea we have is the product of an external factor, something that has been pre-established. We may call it our own and have various interpretations, but nothing which we imagine is purely organic.

3 comments:

  1. After reading your interpretation of the reading I focused more on an aspect of the chapter that I did not originally concentrate on because i was unclear about it. This is the part where the author reflects on where his imagination comes from. I would like to further understand his view better because I found it difficult to comprehend but I do agree with your point on how our constant exposure to visuals will hinder us from constructing our own.

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  2. I agree that what we think we imagine organically and originally is actually the reflection of things we notice in our surroundings. I think it is truly impossible to imagine something that we have never truly seen or experienced because we can't picture something we don't know exists.

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  3. It is interesting how you say that nothing we imagine is truly organic. At first I did not agree, but upon thinking about it, it makes sense. All our thoughts are a product of our previous experiences.

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