Animals cannot select their goals. Their goals (self-preservation
and procreation) are pre-set, so to speak. And
their success mechanism is limited to these built-in goalimages,
which we call "instincts."
Man, on the other hand, has something animals haven't
—Creative Imagination. Thus man of all creatures is more
than a creature, he is also a creator. With his imagination
he can formulate a variety of goals. Man alone can direct
his Success Mechanism by the use of imagination, or
imaging ability.
We often think of "Creative Imagination" as applying
only to poets, inventors, and the like. But imagination is
creative in everything we do. Although they did not understand
why, or how imagination sets our creative mechanism
into action, serious thinkers of all ages, as well as
hard-headed "practical" men, have recognized the fact and
made use of it. "Imagination rules the world," said Napoleon.
"Imagination of all man's faculties is the most
God-like," said Glenn Clark. "The faculty of imagination
is the great spring of human activity, and the principal
source of human improvement . . . Destroy this faculty,
and the condition of man will become as stationary as
that of the brutes," said Dugold Stewart, the famous Scottish
philosopher. "You can imagine your future," says
Henry J. Kaiser, who attributes much of his success in
business to the constructive, positive use of creative
imagination.