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Which is more powerful? Imagination or knowledge? Knowledge is always limited. But imagination is only limited by the imaginer’s ability to visualise. It is imagination, the power to create scenarios in the mind by asking the question – “What if?”; that enabled astounding discoveries and inventions in human history. Knowledge can be vast and deep but there is always an end to how much one can learn and know.
Let me explain. If you are a cardiologist, one could learn and memorize all about heart illnesses—the several types, treatments, and the attendant care that needs to be given to the patient. But then what one knows is restricted by what there is to know. What is known is limited by what has been discovered and practiced by all of humanity so far.
People still die of heart ailments, even when treated and cared for, because there is very little surgeons know and can do as compared to “what there is to know and do.” Knowledge is the joyful fallout of human intellectual pursuits. But it is limited by the times.
Whereas imagination can easily go beyond what is there to know and do. Imagination comes in handy where knowledge ceases to be useful. It extends, embellishes, and furnishes knowledge. This makes imagination, which has the potential to go beyond knowledge, a desirable quality. That said, it is knowledge that makes sense of the what is imagined. While is great to be knowledgeable and imaginative, being only imaginative is living in a fool’s paradise.
Knowledge is power while imagination is a gift. Knowledgeable and imaginative people are common, and they shape the future of the world. Without them humanity would never have progressed beyond the invention of the wheel. Imagination comes easily to all who care to pay attention to the intuitive thoughts they get. But knowledge is acquired through study and practice. Without knowledge, an imaginative person is like a rudderless boat drifting in the ocean. Knowledge is what gives imagination tools and skills to manifest into reality. Being passively imaginative is of use to none. Without knowledge, imagination remains sheer fantasy. While knowledge fetches understanding with it, imagination is the ignition key that spurs the engine to life.
And it is also true that when inspiration is coupled with imagination, one can achieve wonderful things by putting into practice all the knowledge one has acquired in one’s life. A happy mix would be a third of each—inspiration, imagination and knowledge.