Reason Does Not Contradict Imagination

The intellect, though it can have a reputation for silencing imagination, is not the enemy of a rich imagination.  Yes, reason (here I will often use "reason" in reference to the human ability to reason, not the laws of logic themselves) and imagination are distinct things, yet they overlap and stimulate each other far more than is often acknowledged.  Fallacious ideas about "right-brained" or "left-brained" people can fuel this misconception further.  Reason and imagination, despite being sometimes characterized as such, are not enemies.  After all, the imagining of anything contrary to reason is impossible!

Imagination can be classified in one of two ways: it can refer to either 1) the ability of a conscious being to visualize things in its mind, whether those things are purely abstract or rooted in sensory experiences, or to 2) the general capacity for creative thought.  Not only can imagination not produce or envision anything that contradicts logic, but rationality can also aid creativity and imagination by allowing one to manipulate concepts and ideas into new forms.  It can spark innovation and facilitate experimentation within one's mind.

Thorough rationality does not mean the death of imagination.  On the contrary, it provides the very metaphysical structure that imagination relies on for its very functioning.  Without a grasp of reason, understandable experiences could not exist, including experiences involving the mental visualization or contemplation of objects that do not actually exist in the external world.  Reason and imagination are allies that both allow for creativity.  Together, their effects can be amplified.

Inversely, a thriving imagination does not mean the death of the intellect.  A powerful ability to mentally visualize concepts can even simplify the process of reasoning, by means of supplying one's mind with imagery to aid the analysis of ideas.  Again, both the intellect and the imagination can have a synergistic impact on each other.  To use one does not weaken, destroy, or forsake the other.

Just like the idea that one cannot possess both deep rationality and deep emotionality at once is false, and even destructive, the myth that logic and imagination are at war is false.  People are often taught directly or indirectly that they must largely ignore or silence portions of their humanity in order to emphasize others.  Such a thing is utterly gratuitous, since these components of their humanity are not opposed to each other by nature.  Applying rationality and imagination is not a zero sum game.  The development or celebration of one does not require belittling or neglect of the other.  People who are extremely or fully logical do not have to be devoid of imagination, and the opposite is true--people who have a strong imagination do not have to be irrational.