That which only appears in the imagination, without real existence, is referred to as imaginary.
Imaginary , from the Latin imaginarius , is that which exists only in the imagination . Imagination, on the other hand, is the process that allows a human being to manipulate intrinsically generated information (that is, without the need for environmental stimuli) to create a representation in the mind.
For example: “When I was a child, I had an imaginary friend named Marcos who looked a lot like my uncle” , “The book tells an imaginary event, so I do not recommend looking for connections with reality” , “I am not interested in imaginary benefits , I want you to explain to me precisely what the real and concrete profits will be that I will obtain with this project” .
Imaginary Friend
The creation of an imaginary friend is of great importance to psychology , since, for children, these characters often assume a guardian role with varying degrees of impact on their daily lives. Imaginary friends can develop complex personalities and actively converse with their creators; the observation of a situation of this type by a professional can be very enriching in discovering hidden traumas, among other problems.
Imaginary friends often help children through periods of uncertainty or channel the anxiety caused by a traumatic situation, such as sexual or psychological abuse by a family member. Given the limits of the cultural resources that a person so young usually has at his or her disposal, even supposedly adult characters act as their creators conceive they would if they were real beings, which is especially useful for studying a child's perception of the behavior of his or her elders.
Elves are imaginary beings.
Reasons for its creation
There are many reasons why people create imaginary friends, and they respond to different needs , not all of them related to serious issues. In fact, it is believed that in many cases it is a healthy way of channeling creativity, a tool available to all human beings to get to know ourselves better, trying to see ourselves through the eyes of a third party.
Many actors, especially comedians, have publicly stated that they have lived with imaginary friends for years, and some of them have no problem admitting that these peculiar relationships have accompanied them into adulthood. Far from being a mental disorder, the conception of various entities can be beneficial in giving voice to those parts of one's personality that are often relegated because they do not meet the expectations that are placed on us in the real world.
Imaginary worlds and countries
Imaginary countries , on the other hand, are created by writers and artists to form part of a work of fiction. In their territories, which cannot be identified or found on a real map , the boundaries we know do not govern the narrated events; in other words, the possibilities are endless.
The creation of an imaginary world often goes hand in hand with the development of one or more species that inhabit it, with their own physical characteristics and social organization, with a language suited to their needs and with a series of physical and chemical properties that can surpass the limits of what is known in reality. One of the most celebrated cases is Tolkien 's Middle Earth , the continent in which most of his stories take place, including " The Lord of the Rings ."
The term in social sciences and mathematics
The social imaginary is a concept in the social sciences that refers to the representations of society that are embodied in different institutions. The concept is often used as a synonym for worldview or collective consciousness, although the exact meanings differ.
In mathematics , imaginary numbers are those whose square is negative. The term was coined by the mathematician and physicist Leonhard Euler (1707-1783).