gre writing issue sample writing 105
- Claim: Imagination is a more valuable asset than experience. Reason: People who lack experience are free to imagine what is possible without the constraints of established habits and attitudes.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim and the reason on which that claim is based.
Stating that imagination is a more valuable asset than experience, the speaker asserts that pieces of actual knowledge, skill, profundity, or accumulated information by and of themselves, if compared with imagination have only limited, marginal values in our behavior. In some sense, it is hard to deny that simple knowledge can never meet the remarkable capacity of imagination. Yet, I firmly believe that it is ultimately deeper and sophisticated experience that provides structure and order with imaginations.
Of course, it seems to be an outdated concept that one can achieve something solely based on experience and practical knowledge. In the world of modern business where scientific knowledge can no longer be monopolized by an individual or a particular company, more critical becomes fresh, novel approach itself, one we usually call imagination. In fact, one reason why Apple is able to take a top position over other rivals is not the fact that it has a greater number of knowledgeable computer scientists but that it has a flexible and imaginative spirit. Under the condition of vulgarization of knowledge, true competitiveness comes less from “hard-thinking” than from “soft-thinking.”
Then, is knowledge no longer a critical element of our behavior? My answer is no. When it comes to meaningful conversion of an imaginative idea into a real object, experience can never be ignored. If there had been no expertise in technology, actual demand in the market, and device design, Steve Job’s imaginative ideas might not have been materialized. What prevents imagination from becoming inane daydreams or reveries is a level of solid experience and knowledge.
Even in the world of arts, especially in film industry where imagination and creativity seem both alpha and omega, technical know-how or experience has its own share. Without those experts in such subareas as computer graphic, plotting, or scenario revision, most great movies we have enjoyed recently might be confined to crude works that would not withstand their directors’ imaginative impulses. What truly imparts order to those imaginations is the well-developed expertise.
The speaker asserts that imagination is "sometimes" more valuable than experience because individuals who lack experience can more freely imagine possibilities for approaching tasks than those entrenched in established habits and attitudes. I fundamentally agree; however, as the speaker implies, it is important not to overstate the comparative value of imagination. Examples from the arts and the sciences aptly illustrate both the speaker's point and my caveat.
One need only observe young children as they go about their daily lives to appreciate the role that pure imagination can plays an important role to aid accomplishing tasks. Young children, by virtue of their lack of experience, can provide insights and valuable approaches to adult problems. Recall the movie Big, in which a young boy magically transformed into an adult found himself in a high-power job as a marketing executive. His inexperience in the adult world of business allowed his youthful imagination free reign to contribute creative--and successful ideas that none of his adult colleagues, set in their ways of thinking about how businesses go about maximizing profits, ever would have considered. Admittedly, Big was a fictional account; yet, I think it accurately portrays the extent to which adults lack the kind of imagination that only inexperience can bring to solving many adult problems.
The speaker's contention also finds ample empirical support in certain forms of artistic accomplishment and scientific invention. History is replete with evidence that our most gifted musical composers are young, relatively inexperienced, individuals. Notables ranging from Mozart to McCartney come immediately to mind. Similarly, the wide-eyed wonder of inexperience seems to spur scientific innovation. Consider the science fiction writer Jules Veme, who through pure imagination devised highly specific methods and means for transporting humans to outer space. What makes his imaginings so remarkable is that the actual methods and means for space flight, which engineers settled on through the experience of extensive research and trial-and-error, turned out to be essentially the same ones Verne had imagined nearly a century earlier!
Of course, there are many notable exceptions to the rule that imagination unfettered by experience breeds remarkable insights and accomplishments. Duke Ellington, perhaps jazz music's most prolific composers, continued to create new compositions until late in life. Thomas Edition, who registered far more patents with the U.S. patent office than any other person, continued to invent until a very old age. Yet, these are exceptions to the general pattern. Moreover, the later accomplishments of individuals such as these tend to build on earlier ones, and therefore are not as truly inspired as the earlier ones, which sprung from imagination less fettered by life experience.
On the other hand, it is important not to take this assertion about artistic and scientific accomplishment too far. Students of the arts, for instance, must learn theories and techniques, which they then apply to their craft whether music performance, dance, or acting. And, creative writing requires the cognitive ability to understand how language is used and how to communicate ideas. Besides, creative ability is itself partly a function of intellect; that is, creative expression is a marriage of one's cognitive abilities and the expression of one's feelings and emotions. In literature, for example, a rich life experience from which to draw ideas is just as crucial to great achievement as imagination. For example, many critics laud Mark Twain's autobiography, which he wrote on his death bed, as his most inspired work. And, while the direction and goals of scientific research rely on the imaginations of key individuals, most scientific discoveries and inventions come about not by sudden epiphanies of youthful star-gazers but rather by years and years of trial-and-error in corporate research laboratories.
In sum, imagination can serve as an important catalyst for artistic creativity and scientific invention. Yet, experience can also play a key role; in fact, in literature and in science it can play just as key a role as the sort of imagination that inexperience breeds.