Why The Imagination is Our Technological Savior - The Meaning of Life is to Escape It - Part I

Above is a gratuitous picture of me and some of my artwork. I use it to begin a short talk about the Imagination and how it was revealed to me that the Imagination is humanity's savior....and will ultimately free us from the bonds of physical existence. This is why I dedicated my life to artistic expression.

About 20 years ago I became infatuated with the work of William Blake; his mystic work seemed so almost supernaturally deep. I found great interest in the cryptic and eccentric nature of his "infernal" poetry, the fantastical worldview presented, and Blake's underlying belief that the Imagination was the root of everything good and positive in existence.

I wrote a huge dissertation on Blake and then a few years later I had the largest epiphany of my life (it was almost frightening, and I felt as if I was being haunted for a year). An image came to mind of a man dropping accidentally dropping an infant on his head....from there a great deal of thought and realization transpired, but over the course of months I came to the understanding that the Imagination, through its playful way of envisioning and creating fictions and alternate realities, will essentially free man from physical reality as it fully melds with technological advancement. The Imagination, and man's ago-old desire to be entertained/to escape reality through story, which itself is motivated/directed by the Imagination, is leading man to a future where Virtual Realities will exist that seem every bit as real as reality. So we are being led quickly to that defining moment: where man will be able to build such virtual realms that rival reality itself. But what does it existentially mean at such a point: my epiphany was that if man can create realities every bit as real as reality, then he at such a juncture would thereby be able to begin to understand the programming of reality itself. Thus, the Imagination has led man, ever since a caveman desired to tell stories in a cave, to the point where our desire for fiction (to escape reality) has culminated in the creation of virtual realities, and in so doing man then will end up understanding how to get inside, behind, or turn off reality.

It occurred to me that our destiny is to leave this dimensional perspective and existence we are currently situated in, and the Imagination, that unique creative and playful force within our human spirit, is leading us there.

It was soon after that I was inspired, almost metaphysically forced, to write an experimental novel ("A Mirror He Built") that explains and presents this understanding by showing that all stories have forever been covertly preaching this ideal and working for the Imagination to help us all reach our escape.

Many times people want to view art and creative expression as just entertainment, and that which doesn't really have much "serious" importance beyond entertainment. I want to say that we are in a dimensional reality, where we would forever be sequestered if not for the Imagination leading us to the point where we will escape this reality. We are evolving inside of this program (existence) to the point where we become "conscious" of the program and its programming and then can decide how to proceed.

So what's the meaning of life: To Escape it.....And one day our entire collective energy will do just that thanks to that essence of our being called the Imagination.

Welcome to the game.