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A week or two ago, Smallsteps and I finished reading the complete set of Mary Poppins books, which took us over half a year, reading a few pages every second night, as my wife and I take it in turn putting her to sleep. And, with no new series to read, we have been reading Dr Seuss books, which is something we have done since she was a child also. Now, she is starting to read more in English too,  so it is nice to read a page or two and then have her read the next line. She is getting pretty good. 

However, it is always nice to have a longer story where she is able to engage her imagination and I decided for the next one, to go out on a limb a bit and chose the Narnia Chronicles, by C.S. Lewis.

![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/tarazkp/23y8vAAzxd4LqprYnQruXeLwbMevorA49pxKdmEGnQ1tXxpszvvqVERXnS6ayj4czYa3S.png)

I was seven when I read these, so I think it will be okay for her, even though she won't be reading them herself. However, at eight I read the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, which I know would be far too "scary" for her. She is already nervous about this set.

Mary Poppins is actually a fantasy book full of adventure, with magical worlds and talking animals, so I think that she will quite enjoy this series too, though this does get a little darker, with evil witches and fighting. But, since I am reading with her, there is plenty of opportunity to discuss and disempower any fears she might have throughout.

There is the paraphrased quote from Einstein of,

>"If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairytales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairytales."

There is intelligence in this, but it isn't because of the fairytale lessons itself, it is the combination of the reading and the explanation of impossible conditions. It forces creativity by making the brain imagine something it has never seen before and building a situation that is absolutely unique to the individual, since it is made entirely of their own resources. 

There is value in this, but a lot of culture today is more likely to watch fairytales instead, which provides all the building blocks put together so no imagination is required to fill the gaps. Rather than a child building their unique world, the Disney or Pixar becomes their world.

I noticed this in myself too, where as mentioned, I read LOTR when I was eight. I know/ knew those books well and the entire journey was mapped out in a world of my own creation, with each significant character and even the minor roles, having a look, feel and sound developed by me. However, now when I think of the characters, the roles are filled by actors, Rather than the imaginary Gandalf and Strider I had built, Ian McKellan and Viggo Mortensen, fill their shoes.

>My imagine has been hijacked and replaced with a narrative not of my own.

This seems irrelevant, but it is far more impactful than we may realize, as soon, we fall out of practice at thinking for ourselves, creating our own thoughts, and relying on what is fed to us. It is not only a problem for our ability to critical think, it is also a problem for our ability to innovate, as we become less accustomed to using our imagination to create a world that does not exist - *yet.* And if we can't do that, that world never will exist.

I get the sense that there has been a massive degradation in our ability to create and innovate, because not only do we rely on non-imagination generating consumption, we are largely consuming from the same pool, so our source of mental nutrition is also narrower. However, because we simultaneously have been given access to a far greater pool of content creation through the internet, we *feel* that we as a species have become more creative, because the best are cherrypicked globally. 

I want my daughter to be a creator, not only a consumer, but in order for this to happen these days, she has to do what the majority of others are not. While everyone is trying to fit into a society and a group, she is going to have to stand apart, at least in how she imagines the world to be. When everyone is thinking the same thing, it generally means that they are being influenced outside of their control. They have been conditioned, programmed, manipulated to think the same, act the same and create the same - with that last one being, *nothing of value.* 

Because value of creation comes through scarcity, and when everyone is thinking and acting the same, what they create doesn't stray far enough from the average to differentiate itself in the marketplace and *anyone can do it. Being divergent in thought works on both sides of the average however, so not all that is diverse, is going to be valuable, but for those who are able to engage their imagination to build something that is in demand, they are going to be the world changers, the innovators, the creators. 

We are entering into a renaissance of the creatives, where places like Hive are increasingly going  o be adopted and utilized as places that the creatives build and trade in ideas, as well as goods and services. However, it is a competitive market in the attention economy and those who are going to be able to generate careers out of it, are those who are able to stand out of the crowd. That is hard to do for people who want to continually align themselves with the middle of the group, but it is also hard to say, 

>I am going to walk my own path.

Being yourself comes with pain of non-acceptance and criticism from those who want you to be like them, or be like someone they are able to box. While people want to consume the best creations, they are also very good at killing the conditions where creatives can flourish, by punishing those who try something different.

But, I am hoping that while the majority of people in the world have their face buried in their screen, Smallsteps will have her mind buried into her imagination, building worlds previously unseen, until she turns them into something people can understand. She might walk alone much of the time, but never need be lonely. 

>You can escape to new worlds with a good book. 
You can build entire worlds with a good imagination. 


Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]


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