highways of an experience lying beyond the confines of the narrow here and
now. These are the minds which cannot discover relations; which cannot think.
Minds of this type can never be architects of their own fate, or even builders, but
must content themselves to be hod carriers.
The Need of a Purpose.—Nor are we to forget that we cannot intelligently erect
our building until we know the purpose for which it is to be used. No matter how
much building material we may have on hand, nor how skillful an architect we
may be, unless our plans are guided by some definite aim, we shall be likely to
end with a structure that is fanciful and useless. Likewise with our thought
structure. Unless our imagination is guided by some aim or purpose, we are in
danger of drifting into mere daydreams which not only are useless in furnishing
ideals for the guidance of our lives, but often become positively harmful when
grown into a habit. The habit of daydreaming is hard to break, and, continuing,
holds our thought in thrall and makes it unwilling to deal with the plain, homely
things of everyday life. Who has not had the experience of an hour or a day
spent in a fairyland of dreams, and awakened at the end to find himself rather
dissatisfied with the prosaic round of duties which confronted him! I do not
mean to say that we should never dream; but I know of no more pernicious
mental habit than that of daydreaming carried to excess, for it ends in our
following every will-o'-the-wisp of fancy, and places us at the mercy of every
chance suggestion.
3. TYPES OF IMAGINATION
Although imagination enters every field of human experience, and busies itself
with every line of human interest, yet all its activities can be classed under two
different types. These are (1) reproductive, and (2) creative imagination.
Reproductive Imagination.—Reproductive imagination is the type we use
when we seek to reproduce in our minds the pictures described by others, or
pictures from our own past experience which lack the completeness and fidelity
to make them true memory.
The narration or description of the story book, the history or geography text; the
tale of adventure recounted by traveler or hunter; the account of a new machine
or other invention; fairy tales and myths—these or any other matter that may be
put into words capable of suggesting images to us are the field for reproductive
imagination. In this use of the imagination our business is to follow and not lead,