We imagine things by selecting and mentally combining features of the already existing and familiar environment (chapter V.4.).  This is how our dream destinations (chapter VI.2.), which obviously are also products of our imagination, bear qualities that are tangible. Taking these qualities into consideration helps us get closer to where we’re headed. We might have never seen the peak we want to reach, or the river we want to raft on, or the herd we want to hunt; yet if we aim at the peak, we make sure to take the high road at a crossing; en route to the river, we listen for the sound of flowing water; to find the herd we survey the terrain for traces. (more…)

If outer attention communicates with the objects outside the windows, inner attention, being its alternative, deals with the images on the opposite wall (chapter V.3.). These images differ in kind. The products of our memory are essentially photographs – they hold literal impressions of our past. The ones reflecting our imagination would be more like sketches of dream images, or comic books. They combine familiar fragments into unfamiliar configurations, and bear the mark of our individuality. (more…)