The evolution of imagination PDF
Preview The evolution of imagination
T H E E VO L U T I O N O F I M AG I NAT I O N T H E E VO L U T I O N O F I M AG I NAT I O N STEPHEN T. ASMA THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS CHICAGO & LONDON The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637 The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London © 2017 by Stephen T. Asma All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations in critical articles and reviews. For more information, contact the University of Chicago Press, 1427 E. 60th St., Chicago, IL 60637. Published 2017 Printed in the United States of America 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 1 2 3 4 5 ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 22516- 6 (cloth) ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 22533- 3 (e- book) DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226225333.001.0001 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Asma, Stephen T., author. Title: The evolution of imagination / Stephen T. Asma. Description: Chicago; London: The University of Chicago Press, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2016056665| ISBN 9780226225166 (cloth: alk. paper) | ISBN 9780226225333 (e-book) Subjects: LCSH: Creative ability. | Imagination. Classification: LCC BF408 .A83 2017 | DDC 153.3—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016056665 ♾ This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48- 1992 (Permanence of Paper). For Julian : CONTENTS : INTRODUCTION 1 ONE : THE SECOND UNIVERSE 15 Counting Off 15 Some Crucial Ingredients 17 The Captain or the Muse? 26 Metaphysical Imagination 28 A Second Universe 39 Philosophical Missteps 45 You Are an Expert Improviser 47 TWO : THE CREATIVE BODY 55 Give the Drummer Some 55 Thinking with Your Body 56 The Simulation System 63 Hot Cognition and Heuristics 69 I Feel, Therefore I Improvise 73 The Most Playful Ape 82 The Caveman Thespian 84 Emotional Intelligence and Improvisation 86 THREE : DRAWING, DREAMING, AND VISUAL IMPROVISATION 91 The Roots and the Walking Bass 91 Caveman Picassos 93 Images, Dreams, and Proto- Consciousness 103 Pictorial Mind and Creative Thinking 111 Voluntary Imagination 117 FOUR : SPINNING THE YARN: CREATING WITH LANGUAGE 131 Playing the Head 131 How Did Language Evolve? 134 Storytelling Apes 147 Take It to the Bridge! Improvisation as Helpful Deviance 155 Tuning a Theory 160 FIVE : BLOWING AWAY THE SELF: CREATIVITY AND CONTROL 177 Solo Time 177 Evolution of the First- Person Perspective 180 Where Is the Self? 187 Zen, Flow, and Brain Systems 197 Finding Your Way Back 211 SIX : THE POLITICS OF IMAGINATION: TRADING FOURS 229 The Cultures of Creating and Copying 231 Ethics and the Moral Imagination 244 Improvisation, Dogmatism, and the Future of Freedom 261 Acknowledgments 273 Notes 277 Index 307
The list of books you might like
