We are surrounded by make-believe. It's almost as though there is more that is imaginary than that is considered real. Television shows, movies, books, music, art, fantasies, and even memories are all built on a foundation of what comes from the mind, much of which is fabricated in some way. This isn't a bad thing, but it makes me wonder what's really real then.
I've talked about how perception shapes memories. So the same event between two people could be remembered in vastly different ways, but to each person it's reality. It could be said that imagination is attempting to fill in details that the mind simply can't or won't recall. And that's just the past, but both the present and future are constantly filled with imagination. If other people are anything like me then their minds must wander off, thinking about various things. What you have to do next, what could have been, what you would like do be doing. With all of these we're picturing events or creating situations that haven't happened. The mind is almost constantly creating its own reality by simply imagining it into existence.
Every story ever told requires imagination, be it from the person telling the story or from the person hearing it. Stories based on real events force us to envision how it must have been. Books and movies attempt to consolidate that information and build the image for us. Even pornography is based in make-believe. The people are real only in the sense that they are portrayed by actual people, but the events and situations leading to sex are often pretend. Plus the whole point of pornography is to help people create a pleasurable fantasy.
When we were kids we spent a lot more of our time using our imaginations. We would make up games or pretend we were somewhere else or create elaborate stories (sometimes only for the sake of trying to get out of trouble). I remember spending hours sitting with my toys, just building dozens of scenarios of fun. And that was enough for us back then. Somewhere along the way we start to use our imagination a little bit less, allowing someone else to do it for us. Instead of playing a game we created on our own, we watch a movie with a structured story and someone else's ideas being fed to us. We stop creating our own fun and only allow ourselves to be entertained.
I believe that there is so much made-up stuff surrounding us because it creates a form of escape from reality. The television show has a world where characters are interesting, smart, eccentric, or sexy. The real world has that too, but with make-believe characters those attributes can be accentuated beyond normal levels to create importance. Even so-called reality TV is just another form of escape. The people on the shows aren't exactly real. They are put into controlled situations for the sake of entertainment. They know they're being watched and are putting on a performance. People watch because it's different from their own lives. No one wants to watch a show called "Your Shitty Job", which is based on your day-to-day activities at work. There has to be a gimmick or something special to cause people to try and imagine what it would be like to be there.
Our own self-perception is often based on imagination. We believe ourselves to be one way, which may not be how we appear to others. I won't say how we really are because someone else's perception of you may only be real to them. So in a sense we are all just fantasies. We create ourselves. So if everything is based on imagination in some way then is anything real? Or is it that they only way something can be real is for it to be imagined? And if we imagine reality then how come we're sticking with this reality and not something else?
