“Imagination is more than Knowledge” - Albert Einstein
I respectfully disagree with this quote. Einstein was a great scientist and an intellectual;
however, the statement doesn’t appeal to my liking because after thinking for a while I’ve
concluded that: Knowledge consists of many different varieties ranging from core subjects such
as english, math, science, and history, to geography, language & arts, etc. To get better at these
you build off of prior knowledge, that’s why classes are built off a hierarchy from low to high.
Take into account the paths in mathematics starting from, let’s start at algebra 1, to geometry,
then to algebra 2, pre-calculus, calculus AB, calculus BC, and then multivariable calculus. Why
is it mandatory for us to go to schools to learn these things, where are the classes for imagination
or the concepts of it? Yes, “theoretically” you’re born with it, there is no “teaching” someone
how to be creative. But, if you show them how to solve everyday problems, that acquired
knowledge will help them create a sturdy building ground such as the concrete base of a house to
build up off. What is the purpose of having a great imaginative, creative ability if you are unsure
how to use it, have you heard of an architect that doesn’t know math? Of course not, it is
fundamental. Homeless people on the street might sometimes be at another realm of imagination,
to an exceedingly impressive level. But they didn’t use it properly, some chose not to learn or
study enough in school; made bad unintelligent choices. If they had more knowledge they
could've landed a degree or better one causing a greater job to make a living off. The world
doesn’t reward us for our imagination, we have no means to prove it either in our education
system. Why do schools test us by PSATs or SATs which can have a say into going to a good
school or bad one then? Our world is built upon the same unimaginative thinking, we do the
same as our past ancestors, parents, grandparents, etc. Work, sleep, repeat. No matter what
happens it’s all the same. One could argue that imagination causes someone, “to look outside the
box,” and this would help them create new, unique solutions to real problems that could possibly
even break that cycle. Ok, let’s imagine a group of NASA engineers figuring out how to fix a
faulty engine on a spaceship. The imaginative one says a completely different way on how to go
about the issue, no one else can grasp at the change compared to the rest of the engineers “sane”
thinking, everyone just bundles with their unoriginal, restricted mindset; therefore, canceling his
idea out. Maybe they have better degrees from more prestigious schools, “smarter” with their
knowledge. Humans are naturally like sheep; they follow other’s basic thoughts over the
imagination. So ask yourself, is imagination really more than knowledge?