Imagination and memory are related to the properties of the psyche and the processes occurring in it. In both cases, the existence of some images in the mind is noted. But there is also something that makes it possible to separate the two studied concepts from each other.
Definition
Imagination is a process occurring in the mind, which is accompanied by the generation of images and ideas. This ability of the psyche helps a person to solve emerging problems at the level of thinking. This is especially important when practical action is impractical or impossible. For example, when it comes to abstract objects. Creative imagination can take on the form of fantasy.
Memory - the ability of consciousness to capture information about what is happening, as well as save it and reproduce. The most developed memory in humans. In addition to him, this ability, in its various manifestations, is possessed by higher animals. The amount of memory depends on the number of nerve cells involved.
Comparison
There is one key feature that allows you to see the difference between imagination and memory. It is associated with the nature of the images that arise in consciousness in both cases. So, only what really exists is recorded in the memory, be it phenomena of the external world that affect the senses, or their own experiences. You can recall information only in the form in which it was received. In other words, the memory lacks an element of fiction, some kind of thinking out.
Imagination is such a work of consciousness, in the process of which there is a combination of a person's ideas and impressions, and the result of this synthesis is a completely new image, to a certain extent remote from reality. Fantasy images do not correspond to reality at all. Imagination is an entertaining process. Precisely because it allows you to get something unpredictable and unexpected for the person himself, many are interested in inventing something, imagining.
It is worth mentioning that imagination makes it possible to control the future to some extent. After all, this ability of consciousness helps a person to plan further actions that have not yet taken place. In addition, imagination plays a very important role in the emergence of technical inventions and global scientific discoveries. The creation of works of art also takes place with the participation of the imagination.
So, let's summarize and say again what is the difference between imagination and memory. It consists primarily in the fact that the products of the imagination are something that did not previously exist in its integral form. Memory, on the other hand, fixes what already exists or reproduces what was captured earlier.
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