Most of the exercises and games given for the development of Visualization and Attention call the imagination into action. These three faculties are so closely related that they can not be treated entirely separate. Any exercise previously given for the first two will develop the imagination as well.
These faculties of Visualization, Attention and Imagination combine in the operation of the great faculty of Memory, which is to be the subject of the Second Book. Exercises given there will result in further development of the imagination.
The Game of Creation
Prof. Gates is credited with being the first to use the following idea for guiding the constructive imagination in producing new ideas. He has in the past few years used it so effectively that there are more than one hundred articles now manufactured under the protection of patents by the United States Government, and scores of others are being perfected.
Make a list of all the things in the room, then select one object and combine it with the rest of the list and see how many new ideas will result. This is using the constructive imagination, creating a new whole from familiar parts. Example—
Floor, table, ceiling, wall, window, glass, casing, frame, stove, pipe, damper, oilcloth, cover, rug, boards, paint, plaster, paper, picture, frame, bench, chair, couch, morris chair, curtain, rod, lace, book, paper, magazine, Victrola, plant, flag, etc.
Select table, and by combining it with the other objects we will see how some new combinations have been created, and perhaps we will create some ourselves.
Table—wall, suggests a table disappearing into the wall, as used in small apartments.
Table—oilcloth, a common article.
Table—cover, also common.
Table—rug, Oriental rugs are often used for table covers.
Table—boards, the extension dining table.
Table—chair, the combination used in dairy lunches.
Table—book, the library table.
Table—Victrola, a combination manufactured by the Columbia Company.
Table—flag, suggests the flag as a table cover.
The longer the list the greater the possibility of finding some new and useful idea. Business men use this idea constructively. Woolworth combined the 5c and store, and made his fortune. Ingersol combined the Dollar and Watch. A boat, paddles, and a steam engine resulted in the first steamboat.
There is no limit to the illustration, it is everywhere apparent and in many things that you use. Every new invention or short-cut in business will result from a new combination of existing concepts. We are now manufacturing alcohol from sawdust, rubber from wheat. When shall we stop?