What is it to imagine exactly? How do we go about it, and why is it so important that we imagine for ourselves? In July 2023 author and Condé Nast Britain managing director Albert Read came to Intelligence Squared to explain that the imagination is not just the preserve of artists and creatives but rather a muscle – an essential faculty of the mind which we can all train and develop throughout our lives. Drawing on his new book The Imagination Muscle, Read explains how the imagination is central to human achievement. In conversation with Times columnist and author of What I Wish I'd Known When I Was Young: The Art and Science of Growing Up, Alice Thomson, the discussion touches on art, music, film, literature, science and entrepreneurship. As technology advances and threatens to take over the creative aspects of our lives, Read's book suggests it is more pressing than ever to harness the power of our imaginations.

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