Imagination Is More Important Than Knowledge

Imagine. Imagine if you were a filmmaker. An artist. An author. Or even a teacher, just like Mr. Symes. And you had to choose between having a limitless imagination, and immense knowledge. What would you choose?

If you chose imagination, you chose correctly. Imagination IS more important than knowledge. Even Albert Einstein, who is considered to be the most influential physicist of the 20th century, agrees. To him, "Imagination is more important than knowledge." And "The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."

The English Oxford Dictionary defines imagination as the faculty or action of forming new ideas, images or concepts of external objects not present to the senses. It is through this imagination that all knowledge has been created. At it simplest, knowledge is merely facts, information, and skills acquired through experience or education. And where did these facts come from? Knowledge would be nothing without imagination.

Much like Albert Einstein, many of the world's most famous individuals consider imagination to be of higher value than knowledge. Robert Fulghum, a renowned American author, said "I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge." Even Thomas Edison, whose invention of the light bulb revolutionised the world, said "To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk." He didn't say knowledge. He said imagination.

We all know Steve Jobs. He revolutionised the smartphone industry forever with his invention of the iPhone. If it wasn't for him, every one of us, even the richest man on earth, would still be using a big, ugly, and bulky phone that looked like this. Today, the iPhone 6 is the most advanced smartphone on the market. And better smartphones are yet to come.

But how did Steve Jobs invent the iPhone? How did Thomas Edison invent the light bulb? How did the Wright Brothers invent the first airplane? Think about it. And you'll realise that it wasn't because of their vast knowledge, but because of their out of this world imagination.

God Himself used imagination in the creation of everything. Adam and Even; the galaxy; the oceans; even the mountains and valleys, were all created based on God's imagination. This was the beginning of imagination, before knowledge was even introduced to the world.

To Einstein, Edison, Jobs, and to many others, knowledge is merely a tool to unleash their imagination. In Albert Einstein's words "Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere."

Imagination has brought forth all kinds of inventions that has benefitted us in all parts of life. The television was invented to amuse and entertain; the radio to inform and notify; and the internet to educate and enhance. You don't need to be Einstein to know that without imagination, these crucial inventions, along with the invention of the telephone, the laptop, and even the rocket, would all be impossible

Imagination is within us. On the other hand, knowledge is learnt through schooling and experience. Imagination motivates and leads us to acquire more knowledge and to use it in creative ways. It's because of imagination that we turned a rock into a spear; a spear into a bow; and a bow into a gun. In other words, without imagination, we wouldn't have evolved into the race we