Why imagination is needed today

The problems of life in a global age concern almost all subjects, and have considerable diversity. They contain micro-level problems such as the existence [111/112] of certain molecules in a DNA sequence, and macro-level problems such as the maintenance of the biosphere of the earth. They also contain such bioethical problems as the withdrawing of life support systems from a severely handicapped newborn; and such environmental problems as toxic and radioactive substances which will condense and settle in the biosphere at a slow pace.

These problems have two features. We can, on the one hand, grasp them by paying attention to facts and situations in our daily life, because all these problems have some relationship to everyday life. For example by paying attention to the situation of everyday water and food, we can discover environmental pollution in the local areas. Japan is also beginning to encounter more and more the problem of senile or terminally ill patients who must be cared for in the home.

On the other hand, it is only possible for us to grasp most of these problems in our imagination. For example we cannot look a the defects of genes of an embryo directly. Most of us have not directly seen a brain-dead person in an Intensive Care Unit, nor have we seen the actual destruction of a rain forest. We know of these things only through books, articles, and TVprograms. Through discussions we are continuously constructing these images in our imaginations. In a sense, global environmental issues and the problems of advanced medicine exist only in our imaginations, as we have no real experience of them.

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The Concept of Inochi, Part 2
(1991)
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