We are not only living the fiction of our ancestors or what they once perceived as magic; we are also inhabiting realities that were entirely invisible to them; the concepts that could not be captured by the imagination of the time.
Something as ordinary as tap water in our homes would have seemed like pure magic, yet still within the bounds of imagination. Same with airplanes, a radical concept of flying but something that they could still imagine. But the internet and AI belong to a different category altogether—phenomena so far beyond their imagination that they could not have conceived of them. Yet, we built the invisible.
This brings me to an interesting thought: between what exists, what could exist, and what remains entirely invisible to us today, there are infinite concepts, realities, and even entire universes still waiting to be born.
What we need is a new imagination, one that could capture and help build the invisible of our times and truly liberate us from the trappings of the present.
(Inspired by my long conversations with my dear friend Tobias Rees)
Yes, we must think beyond the present if we wish to transform our world in any number of domains. It takes visionary leadership, and a willingness to loosen our hold on beliefs that there is "only one way" or "a right way." Some domains are more conducive to transformation than others as evidenced by improvements in our material lives, but sadly intractable violence everywhere--ie, it's easier to innovate things than to lead billions toward the enlightened thinking that would bring about lasting peace and the transformation of humanity itself.
: “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” Einstein