Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-01T04:13:43.307Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

It's not fiction if you believe it: How imaginary worlds are derived from imaginary realities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 November 2022

Jeffrey Jensen Arnett Open the ORCID record for Jeffrey Jensen Arnett [Opens in a new window]
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Clark University, Worcester, MA 01610, USA [email protected]; www.jeffreyarnett.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Imaginary worlds are not a consequence of humans' exploratory tendencies as argued in the target article but a recent spinoff of a strong human tendency to create imaginary realities, that is, versions of how the world works that are fabricated (although we believe they are real) in order to allow us to believe we understand it and can control it.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 45 , 2022 , e277
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Black, R., Adger, W. N., Arnell, N. W., Dercon, S., Geddes, A., & Thomas, D. (2011). The effect of environmental change on human migration. Global Environmental Change, 21, S3–S11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hammack, P. L. (2008). Narrative and the cultural psychology of identity. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 12(3), 222–247.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harari, Y. N. (2015). Sapiens: A brief history of humankind. Harper.Google Scholar
McLean, K. C., & Syed, M. (2015). Personal, master, and alternative narratives: An integrative framework for understanding identity development in context. Human Development, 58(6), 318–349.Google Scholar
Rossano, M. (2010). Supernatural selection: How religion evolved. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scheepers, D., & Ellemers, N. (2019). Social identity theory. In Sassenberg, K. and Vliek, M. L. W. (Eds.), Social psychology in action (pp. 129–143). Springer Nature.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shweder, R. A., Goodnow, J. J., Hatano, G., LeVine, R. A., Markus, H. R., & Miller, P. J. (2007). The cultural psychology of development: One mind, many mentalities. In Lerner, R. M. (Ed.), Handbook of child psychology (Vol. 1, pp. 716–792). Wiley.Google Scholar
Tattersall, I., & DeSalle, R. (2019). The accidental homo sapiens: Genetics, behavior, and free will. Pegasus.Google Scholar