Introduction

We are immersed in imagery. We have images of ourselves and images that we portray to the world. We rehearse future action and decision by imagining how things would be if we did this or that. We reflect on and evaluate the past through weighing up and sifting through our memories, just as with a set of old photographs. We can read intensity of mental imagery as compelling us to act, believe ourselves in love or to be at one with the divine. To gain tranquillity, we can learn how to image ourselves into a beautiful place in our mind (relaxation therapy), or we can meditate or contemplate the inner imagery of the self, an evoked iconography. The imagery of a nightmare can unsettle our passage through the day. Hallucinogenic drugs can be taken to see visions or nightmares, individuals may make vision quests to seek their inner identity. In all these human activities, from planning the evening ahead to the possible exploration of altered states of consciousness, we create and are influenced by the power of our inner imagery. Though we regularly translate some of that perceived imagery into conceptual thought and subsequent action, the use of our imaginative senses could be more extensively used across the full range of social science research.