Real Genius
Despite what irate commenteers on social media would like you to think, some of the greatest minds have been able to accomodate both the imaginative and rational aspects of their mind. Isaac Newton dabbled in Alchemy and Nikola Tesla believed that he communicated with UFOs. While we at Derivative Psychology would never endorse one way of creating over another, we do have to wonder whether there is something to having a healthy imagination and having more than just an academic education, but real genius.
We believe that entertaining a wildly unconventional imagination breeds real intelligence, powerhouse stuff, but there's a fine line. Our brain is most effecient when understanding things visually and it should not surprise you that the subconscious would try to flood you with emotion, a flash of memories or a deep sense of peace when a particular visual cue is noticed outside of your own consciousness. Our brains process so much more data than we perceive that it's not a stretch to think that it might want to use an image here or there to communicate between cognizance and subconsciousness.
The most difficult part of this process is right at the beginning, learning to listen to your gut. That's it. We've got too many people in our face telling us how wrong we are or what we could be doing better that we forget to listen to ourselves and take real responsibility for what is going on around us.
Albert Einstein promoted the effective use of an imagination more than anything else and Carl Sagan thought it absurd that most of us consider science and spirit "mutually exclusive." While everyone is admonishing others for leaning too far to one side, we feel that a merger that began decades ago should be encouraged in the right direction.
Currently, we have two extremes of this relationship:
1. Fundamentalist religions in the western world attempt to scientifically bolster their beliefs by amassing physical evidence of ancient ruins, artifacts and biographical evidence that corrospond to their particular text, whether it be the Bible, Quran, or Torah. Even worse, they attempt to act as a divine deputy of sorts, proposing inhumane laws and recklessly punishing family members who transgress.
2. There are great scientists who are, if they're not careful, in danger of using a vast compendium of knowledge and experience to drum up a feel-good theory that those of us willing to listen will praise them for (and I assure you dear reader, I was such a follower when I was younger). Worse still, we have the type of scientist who is convinced of nothing that they cannot personally witness, which leads one down the illogical path of a sharpshooter not believing in his ability to hit a target because it hasn't happened yet.
As an individual emerging from those two experiences, if we're not turned off entirely, we can gain a healthy understanding of what can go wrong when we lean too quickly to one side or another. If we actually listened to the people we admired instead of those who claim to speak on their behalf, we'd figure out that imagination is the most valuable quality to have in science and compassion the most important when dealing with spirituality.
So here we are, some of my own beliefs regarding the appropriate use of psychology have been uncovered at times of extreme crisis in my life and nothing has validated the need for spirituality in my life more than the complete and utter beauty and complexity of math, the psyche and our universe. It has vaulted my understanding in ways that have permeated every aspect of my life. I am confident, kind and know how to choose my battles know that I've relaxed a little bit more and started picking up books instead of the remote control.
Science and spirituality are no more than two different vantage points on the same shoreline, While one is too busy anthropomorphizing the sunset too see the tide approaching, the other dismisses the wonder and awe felt by the first and simply verifies the way the tide is encroaching upon the sand. Both are right, but only kind of. The inspiration and imagination felt by the first should be the fuel that drives the second to innovate and inspire others.
