Fascism and the Failure of Imagination

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People seem to struggle with imagination, but WHY? Let's talk about it.
CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Intro
04:11 - We Suck
07:03 - Society Sucks
11:19 - Nothing is Real
16:15 - Play is Praxis
24:14 - Outro & Bloopers
SOURCES:
------ What's Left of Us (D&D Game): / @thejaycorn
------ Grading Video: • Grading is a Scam (and...
------ PragerU Lessons Video: • How PragerU Hurts Stud...
------ PragerU's Econ 101: www.prageru.com/cashcourse
------ Imagination: A Manifesto by Ruha Benjamin
------ The Rules We Break: Lessons in Play, Thinking, and Design by Eric Zimmerman
------ Out of Our Minds by Sir Ken Robinson
------ Play by Dr. Stuart Brown
------ Imagination: A Very Short Introduction by Jennifer Gosetti-Ferencei
------ Creative Schools by Sir Ken Robinson (quoting Peter Gray)
------ TTRPG Resources:
------------ "An Exploratory Study on the Players of Dungeons and Dragons" by David Louis Wilson
------------ "Critical Fail - Addressing problematic designs in table-top role-playing games for narrative therapy and community wellbeing." by Adric Polkinghorne, Dr. Jane Turner, Dr. Manuela Taboada, and Dr. Jeremy Kerr
------------ "Gaming Intentionally: A Literature Review of the Viability of Role-Playing Games as Drama-Therapy-Informed Interventions" by Jonathan Mendoza
------------ "Let Your Clients Fight Dragons: A Rapid Evidence Assessment regarding the Therapeutic Utility of ‘Dungeons & Dragons’" by Sören Henrich & Rachel Worthington
------------ "Table-top role-playing games as a therapeutic intervention with adults to increase social connectedness" by Matthew S. Abbott, Kimberly A. Stauss & Allen F. Burnett
------ CRiT Awards: www.critawards.org/
FURTHER READING:
------ Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto by Tricia Hersey
------ "Ipad's Imagination Failure" by @ThatMakesSenseToMe ( • iPad's Imagination Fai... )
SPECIAL THANKS TO:
------ my D&D friends for being so supportive and kind and also laughing at all my jokes
* To Support Me: *
---Become a channel Member! ➤ / @zoe_bee
---Join the Patreon! ➤ / zoe_bee
---Make a one-time donation! ➤ ko-fi.com/zoebee
---Join the Discord! ➤ / discord
---Check out my second channel! ➤ / @zoecee
---Watch my Warrior Cats Podcast! ➤ art19.com/shows/the-only-warr...
---Watch my D&D game! ➤ / @thejaycorn
---Watch my Blades in the Dark game! ➤ / itucrew

[@BABILA.]

i am plagued by concepts

[@zoe_bee]

Plagued By Concepts Gang ✌️

[@jarrellfamily1422]

​@zoe_bee your preger u classes video sounds great

[@roboticmoustache2012]

No he turned anakin to the dark side

[@DansDiary123]

My stupid ass thought this was on about non-conceptual wisdom 🤦‍♀️😂 “Great king, conceptualisation is attachment!”

[@squirrel_slapper]

Space Station 13 is the best role-playing game ever

[@amareyez8791]

“When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty, I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.” -CS Lewis

[@Neddyhk]

Her entire talk has a lot of parallels with his "Abolition of Man," it's a good read if you haven't checked it out. Very prescient.

[@papermr.magolorguy7957]

Based C.S. Lewis enjoyer 🙌💖

[@svenelven138]

This is why I still play video games... at 50...

[@capuchinosofia4771]

@@Neddyhk abolition of man by whom author? There are many and I want to read the one you mention!

[@Bloodsport1]

I still collect action figures

[@robbiesmith8055]

Joke's on you - I'm a 22yr old maladaptive daydreamer, so I'm far too mentally ill to grow out of imagination.

[@ttcc5273]

As an introvert prone to intuition and imagination, I found "Personality Type: an Owners Manual" to be the key that unlocked finding my place in the world

[@Hemostat]

Halfway to being an author lol

[@user-gw4oz1rk3i]

Scientists have Found that daydreaming is actually really healthy! Watch ted-edˋs video on it, thats where i learned it from!

[@moonlight_cat_27]

@@user-gw4oz1rk3i normal daydreaming is healthy, maladaptive daydreaming is unhealthy

[@PriestessGoat]

as a 30 something maladaptive daydreamer, it does get easier.

[@jademonass2954]

this video made me realize games like solitaire, chess and go were, at some point, just some guy that was like "hey, what if we took these stones and limited ourselves to only move them like this?" and i find that amazing

[@henrytep8884]

I remember as a kid, we use to shoot marbles into dirt holes. Then we continue to make new rules and then we also became skillful enough where we were breaking marbles with our shots. Imagination is an amazing powerful thing especially for the poor who don’t have access to the material wants of life. Some of the most fondest memories came from a place of imitating with limitations, but this structure today makes me feel a little hopeless for the kids growing up. Anyways thanks for your post, it is amazing to ponder on how creative people can be with the simplest things.

[@Pfhorrest]

Games are the beginning and end of all things: Inventing some goals and some rules about how to reach them gives otherwise arbitrary actions meaning, and those rules and goals can function as the syntax and pragmatics of a language the arbitrary symbols of which then acquire semantic meaning. Further in the direction of syntax we find logic and thence mathematics which are all about what can be coherently derived from any arbitrary rules, while further in the direction of pragmatics we find rhetoric and thence all of the arts which are all about what can be concordantly integrated into any arbitrary goal. Applying logic and rhetoric together as the tools to do the job of building tools to do the jobs of inventing tools and jobs by discovering what rules and goals are not arbitrary, we get all of philosophy, whose products are a means of conducting physical and ethical sciences. The physical concerns what the actual, not merely potential, and so non-arbitrary rules of the world are, and the ethical concerns what the actual, not merely potential, and so non-arbitrary goals of the world are. Between the two of those we can then at last do actual work, using those physical rules, and the tools we made from them, to pursue ethical goals, and the jobs we found in them; playing the game that we have no choice but to play. But what is the point of any of that, except to free ourselves from those non-arbitrary rules and goals, to have satisfied them all, so that we are free to then play around with invented, arbitrary rules and goals again, in games, right back where we started?

[@veramitchell3134]

I make games using an old, very restrictive GCS called zzt. It's like writing a story with a set of limiters. Sometimes you find creativity in stretching those rules to fit something unexpected. It's both a crutch and a method for fighting blank page syndrome. Sometimes people just need a place to start. And where they end up might not be within those initial boundaries.

[@paulgaither]

I feel people forget the value of "restrictions breed creativity."

[@Robstafarian]

Are you aware of how long Go was played before the Ko rule was standardized?

[@toganium4175]

Someone once said that fascism is the opposite of art, and I agree.

[@papajhonsreal]

incredible pfp

[@staraptorflock3661]

If that's true then why was Hitler a painter and why was Mussolini a playwriter?

[@toganium4175]

@@staraptorflock3661 They mostly abandoned those interests.

[@staraptorflock3661]

@@toganium4175 They were busy leading entire countries but even so Mussolini still wrote books

[@toganium4175]

@@staraptorflock3661 Authoritarians constantly contradict their own ideals.

[@customink1576]

You know, I always wondered why Conservatives hated Bluey - I thought they wrongfully labelled it as woke and liberal. Watching this though, it makes sense that they'd hate a show that encourages creativity, joy, and imagination, things they are just hellbent in squashing to stay in power.

[@USSAnimeNCC-]

I think conservative really believe in the order or that the natural way they think that how it show be they think women shpuld be housewives while men provide and anything that not that is view as a mistake someone is doing because they can't believe anything of what then know is going to work they fear of trying anything different And them their who benefit form it amd don't 2ant to lose their position of power

[@Imbatmn57]

Its the same with you tube, precious legacy companies are going out of business because no one wants their boring mass produced cr@p anymore.

[@hannahdawg6829]

It also presents things such as non-nomative families in such a casual way, like the kid who mentioned his two moms, or Winston's dad being divorced, or Rusty's dad being deployed overseas. Hell, even Bluey's family is non-normative, as the mom, Chili, works a day job and the dad, Bandit, while he has a job usually works from home and has long periods of time where it doesn't seem like he has any major projects due to him being an archeologist. And with conservatives heavily doubling down on the nuclear family it's not big of a surprise. It's also a show that teaches compassion and that people are different, while conservatives seem to be "this is how the world works, accept it, and anyone who is different should be mocked and ridiculed"

[@bafelix89]

​@hannahdawg6829 not only does it depict a dad that spends a lot of time with his children, his daughters, but it depicts him enjoying it. It shows the dad giving his children attention in ways that fundamentally goes against what they consider the traditional masculine role. It even shows him apologizing to his daughters when he does something wrong. I believe bluey isn't as much a show for children as it is a guide for new parents. And that threatens their very worldview

[@hannahdawg6829]

@bafelix89 oh true, Bandit is the exact opposite of people like Matt "I like my scotch cold and my children quiet" Walsh

[@zoushaomenohu]

I'm reminded of Sir Terry's words (through Death) in Hogfather: "YOU NEED TO BELIEVE IN THINGS THAT AREN'T TRUE. HOW ELSE CAN THEY BECOME?"

[@raak4070]

​@steelmote but how would that effort be put towards a goal no one thought of?

[@georgeuferov1497]

​@steelmote I mean, you can, let's say, build a road without believing it's possible and imagining how this road would look

[@ronandenning7474]

@@georgeuferov1497 If you don’t believe the road is possible you aren’t going to try, after all why would you waste your time on something you think is impossible.

[@MaxGideonActor]

Sure you can -- by challenging its impossibility 😮

[@me-myself-i787]

I doubt you'd want evil spirits to become real.

[@TheAzul_Indigo]

I was told in college that being creative would land me in jail.. I’m an accountant so I guess that’s fair.

[@ms.aelanwyr.ilaicos]

they had us in the first half, not gonna lie

[@TheAechBomb]

yeah, accounting isn't exactly a place you get to be creative; but as a hobby, maybe consider making sculptures out of blank tax forms

[@TheAzul_Indigo]

@@TheAechBomb Alas I do all of my work on the cloud. 😔

[@Ian_sothejokeworks]

Haha! Good one. 😅

[@thegaspatthegateway]

ba dum tsss!

[@namegenerator8760]

One day, someone just pretended that the square root of minus 1 existed and went on with it, inventing an irreplaceable tool called imaginary numbers, a concept without which most mathematically based science wouldn't work.

[@alejandroe3616]

I wouldn’t take the name of the number too seriously, the reason it was named like that was because there is a value we cannot calculate for we denoted as i. These are called complex numbers which in mathematics is on a separate “vector space”. Think of vector spaces like a space with that are governed by different rules. We know they “exist” in that they’re used in magnetism in physics as well as differential equations in mathematics

[@namegenerator8760]

@alejandroe3616 Yes, they where considered useless when they where originally invented, coined as 'imaginary', but ended up being invaluable.

[@alejandroe3616]

@@namegenerator8760 that I agree, I was talking about it with someone how sometimes when I’m doing hw, I think “how did someone come up with this?” And I kinda came to the conclusion that an archeologist would come to. Imagine the technique, theorem or law your using as an artifact like a scroll or a piece of cuneiform. I explained to him that perhaps maybe, for all we know, it came from a once well known library that housed that artifact. So you holding it now places the artifact out of its own context from where it came from. Are you near this said “library” or are you miles from it? We often ask ourselves these questions of how someone could’ve possibly come up with this when perhaps maybe the solution was obvious in the context it was founded in. So I’m guessing imaginary numbers would’ve been in a similar situation

[@meiliyinhua7486]

​@namegenerator8760 well... they were invented to solve a problem, actually. But it was essentially somebody trying to solve an equation that should have a solution thinking "what if I *don't* assume the presence of the square root of -1 means I just stop and discard it And, as it turned out, that was necessary for the formula for the roots of a cubic equation. It was only after that mathematicians were like "okay, but what if this were its own thing?"

[@meiliyinhua7486]

They weren't actually called imaginary numbers for a while, and Euler was the first to label them "i" iirc

[@TheFirstLaughingFool]

You might appriecate this anecdote. When I was in fourth grade, we were given the assignment to make boxes for Willy Wonka. It was a lesson in how to calculate volume in square boxes. But I couldn't give Willy Wonka square boxes, so I drew up pyramid boxes and cat boxes and all kinds of crazy designs. The teacher got really angry because I refused to follow the assignment. Looking back, I say if I was teaching my younger self, I would ask me how much candy could my crazy boxes hold. Either I'd get frustrated over the math and would agree to do square boxes, or maybe I was smart enough bck then to actually solve it. This moment still lives with me vividly.

[@seth_piano]

This comment resonates with me because it makes me so conflicted. I was constantly in situations like this (the assignment bores me to tears, so I bend the rules to my liking to actually stay engaged, only to get yelled at by the teacher). As an adult now..... it's clear to me why they got mad. Class sizes are huge, pay is small, time is scarce, and we're just being That One Kid Who Makes Everything Ten Times Harder To Grade, just by existing. For me, I'm thinking about the time the assignment said "Name one U.S. president who shares the name with a comic strip". I said Calvin Coolidge. I got docked a point, because the answer key said James Garfield. (seriously wtf) I'm still mad, I'm just mad at the system, rather than at the teachers who were just scraping by.

[@voidify3]

@@seth_pianotechnically the comic is called Calvin and Hobbes not just Calvin. But yeah your answer is a way more obscure President and the point of the question is to test your knowledge of presidents so you should have gotten the point

[@TheFirstLaughingFool]

@@seth_piano I absolutely get that I was putting a stressor on an already overworked public employee. My mom was a teacher and I saw what kids like me did to her. That said, the teacher must have spent 10 minutes trying to get me to just use square boxes before reporting me to the vice principal (I have a mental illness and had behavioral issues from it, so I was somewhat familiar with her). With the benefit of hindsight, I feel a better response would have been to spend at most a minute to convince me to follow the instruction and then spend the remaining 9 seeing if I could actually find the volume of a cat shaped box. This is the most prominent example I can think of where the education system did not encourage creative problem solving, but I know there were others.

[@seth_piano]

@@TheFirstLaughingFool Absolutely! I'm learning to have some compassion for everybody involved in this nonsense. I imagine if we dumped a truckload of money into the system, we could get class sizes small enough and teachers resourced enough to make that vision a reality. Personally, I'd love to see what silly questions a bunch of 4th graders could come up with. Mathematically, how many cat turds, I mean chocolate treats, CAN fit in this cat litter box!? What a delightful question :)

[@tisftfctd]

I love this :)

[@LegalKimchi]

"Professional youtuber zoe bee" has an immediate no-react to the cat jumping onto the couch. Didn't even miss a beat. Kept going. Nice

[@DocKrazy]

Very professional. Not very youtube though But. Cat is a paid actor.

[@ChristopherSadlowski]

LOL! That's being a cat parent; you get used to them being all over the place. I'll be sitting, minding my human business, and suddenly my cat is literally climbing up my leg to sit in my lap. Or climbing down me from the back of the couch. You become desensitized to their chaotic energy once you learn their quirks since each individual cat is different.

[@thing_under_the_stairs]

@@ChristopherSadlowski So true. If you're really absorbed in what you're doing, and really used to having cats around, you barely even notice that sudden "cat on head" moment anymore.

[@AdrianColley]

#catlife

[@warmachine5835]

I can't be the only one who got an immediate hit of serotonin with Desmond came into the frame though.

[@ChristopherSadlowski]

Back when I had friends most of them had little kids. The kids LOVED when I came over or was at a party because I was really good at playing all sorts of things. Barbie, army man, sometimes Barbie and army man together, telling stories, kitchen, food store, making games with sticks and rocks if that was all me and the kids could find. If whatever we decided to do needed rules each kid would get one rule so no one felt left out. Some games got really whacky and a little convoluted but they almost always left us laughing. My rule, as the grown-up, was that losing a game is okay, and if I was on the losing team I always modeled gracious defeat so the kids knew what that looked like. I also modeled gracious winning so they knew what that looked like too; no gloating , smack talk, or belittling. My friends were always surprised how I could seemingly do all this off the top of my head, and I would say, "you DON'T have all this stuff rattling around your head all time? You guys don't, like, make believe in your head at work or whatever?" I always assumed everyone made little games for themselves. How else do you get through the day? I would give myself these goofy challenges when I worked at a hotel. Stuff like, can I check a room taking only 15 steps total? Can I do an entire day without using the elevator (literally impossible)? It was really kind of shocking and paradigm shifting to learn that no, most adults seem to have this capability forced out of them. It made me really sad. It still makes me sad.

[@LeviathanProbably]

you sound like a very fun person!!

[@thatoneguy9582]

barbie and army man together sounds fun as _fuck_

[@Hemostat]

Dude, i couldnt even get my coworkers to -draw- smiley faces...

[@Robstafarian]

Firstly, I have to say that I needed to read that today. This also reminded me of how I felt when I learned that not everyone composes music (and hears the compositions) in their minds.

[@Alan_Duval]

Yep, that sounds like my brain.

[@Epiidevvy]

My imagination got me through my childhood. I was undiagnosed Autistic, and an only child. I spent most of my time alone. I used to play in the garden with a sword I had made out of a hollow stick as a handle and a bamboo stick as a blade. I used to fight all manner of generic bad guys in words crafted in my head. As an adult, my imagination is still what make life bearable.

[@LilChuunosuke]

Same here! I have trouble engaging in imaginative play with others, but being able to immerse myself deeply into the stories i was writing in my head was what got me through childhood. I still write stories about my special interests, usually inserting myself into that universe and guessing how the character i love would interact with me. It's all very internal play that i don't express outwardly very much, but it's my crutch

[@abortiongaming5283]

@@LilChuunosuke same

[@dragonowl77]

@@LilChuunosuke wait other people do that too? I've always done that with my special interests, and I thought I was the only one.

[@dermottmcsorley8641]

Me too

[@Mr.Snekofsnex]

Dude that sword sounds rad as hell. Where can I get one?

[@kairostimeYT]

I had an exact opposite teacher in my university. He introduced himself as a "tech philosopher". He leaned way too hard into imagining things. He did his bare minimum as a teacher but expected us to impress him with new ideas and high quality questions. No set textbooks; no lecture videos; expected us to read a bunch of research papers; insanely difficult yet creative exams.

[@muphart]

Oh man I hate non-rigorous classes so much. Especially when you're paying for it. It's like how in the video she described the three stages of learning games - the first two stages are learning and using the rules.

[@MKat596]

Oh my gosh I had an engineering professor like that, research papers and vague assignments and scrawled handwritten notes. Especially in STEM, it’s very difficult to be creative without learning the fundamentals first!

[@seanmcmurphy4744]

Not to mention all of the pseudoscience videos on KZbin which tell viewers "All the facts [on this subject] your professors are teaching you are WRONG!"

[@killingtimeitself]

the part he forgot to mention is that tech is short for technical, not technology

[@righanrook476]

That sounds like an idea farming course of little preparation from instructor who gains the benefits for salary and their own research rather than hiring research assistants.

[@ImThylacine]

Oddly enough, there’s a lot of children’s media that frames the unimaginative nature of adults as a bad thing (take, for instance, The Little Prince), and I was so attuned to those messages growing up that I think I actually… scared myself into not losing my imagination? I play pretend regularly - with other people, with toys, with characters in my own head, with creative writing - and I recently realized that I want to tell kids that they CAN grow up and not lose their sense of whimsy. It might be difficult, but it’s possible, and I don’t want kids like me to be anxious about their “inevitable” imagination death.

[@chaosbean6320]

This reminds me of how I was as a kid. I'm the youngest with two older sisters. I found it weird how they slowly lost their ability to play pretend, to engage with their imagination and make a story with me. Still got mine, sort of. Been trying to re-engage more often. Dream and imagine a better world, a better place. Imagine new systems, new ideas. It's fun.

[@LilChuunosuke]

For me the one that influenced me the most was Codename: Kid's Next Door. The way they greived for members who became teenagers. The way the villains were all adults trying to force the children to be obedient (except for villains like the delightful children from down the lane, who were creepy, emotionless, expressionless, and obedient to Father.) I was so terrified of becoming like that one day that i resolved to stay a kid inside forever. I'm very thankful i did

[@lunalesombras1150]

​@@LilChuunosukeand the interesting thing here is that not all of them are mature or disciplinary, but all of them are trying to get the kids to obey them. The Toiletnator and Candy Pirate come to mind.

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@lunalesombras1150 the mini golf guy was also very immature personally, but tried to get the Kids to go along with his desires

[@pong9000]

There is a dull weight of tritely prescribed imagination aimed at children by those who define childhood as the time to indulge this so-called imagination. It often features a child flying with the aid of many-coloured balloons. I believe this is called reification.

[@PeninsulaCity2024]

I see schools like videogame metas: They teach what is considered "the meta" in current society, students learn and enforce said meta, and anyone going outside of it (even just for the sake of exploring a concept) get struck down. What were left with is a "tryhard", sweaty society that just can't seem to relax. Those who want a more casual, wholesome experience are dubbed "filthy" and bullied out of existence.

[@HumbleWooper]

And wanting life to be completable at any difficulty level below the one THEY feel is acceptable (or even having easier difficulty levels available) is for "lazy" or "weak" people. If you can't play on "normal" or harder (harder is preferred), you don't deserve to see any endgame content. Have a physical or mental disability that makes this exponentially harder, even nearly or totally impossible? Sounds like a "you" problem.

[@headphonesaxolotl]

So you're saying the public school system is like playing Trials of Osiris?

[@ruckly1241]

On one hand, my phone is full of notes and lists of ideas for stories, video games, D&D characters and campaigns, fantasy and sci-fi worldbuilding, etc. On the other hand, when my therapist asks me "What can you do to improve your situation?" or "What steps could you take to make things easier on yourself?" or even "What are you looking forward to?", I can't come up with anything. My mind goes blank. So much of my time and energy is dedicated to my family, providing for them and taking care of them. To the point where I have no social life to speak of. And I can't see any way for that to change for the better. At least, none that are realistic given the priorities and limitations I find myself working within. That's also why all those stories and ideas are limited to notes on my phone, rather than actual projects I'm dedicating time and energy to. I don't even play D&D, because I can't commit to having 3 hours of uninterrupted time on a regular basis.

[@ballman2010]

Ouch, this is so relatable. I can't tell you how to get out of it--I'd probably resent someone doing that to me, all "oh lol just do X." I'd have a stroke. But that's a real struggle when you have so many hard demands on your time. I hope you're able to find a way to slowly dig yourself out of that hole. For me, I've been in similar places and I've usually been taken completely by surprise at the choices I made that finally allowed me to dislodge myself from that rut a little bit. Finding a social group that I devoted a small amount of time to (which was not easy) helped immensely, because those people are involved in other things that I could sometimes join in small ways. Then, if I enjoyed something, sometimes it gave me clarity and motivation to prioritize that thing a little more. I'm still overworked for sure! But sometimes I get to do something that pays me back. Sending you luck and good thoughts.

[@BinaryDood]

I'm on a similair boat. I end up sinking a lot of money whenever I need stretches of time to work on my stuff, which I give nearly all of life's value to.

[@korvincarry3268]

Who are you and why are you me?

[@user-vt5qg7hj1m]

Here's somwthing that...may or may not help You have a few minutes a day maybe, right? Like when you're waiting in a queue or whatnot How about creating a character with struggles simmilar to yours, and trying to write their story? And when you're waiting in that queue, ask yourself, "what should my character do next, to help with their situation?" And when something new happens in your life, make it a new plotpoint for said character, and keep asking yourself And if you ever find sollutions for the character, try doing them yourself Idk, it's worked for me

[@lordfreerealestate8302]

This is a problem with modern therapy - it's supposed to help us function better under really bad circumstances that shouldn't be there. Therapy won't solve issues like poverty, stress, inequality, etc. For the sake of people like you, I'd say we need to change society and it's structure. We need more benefits and higher salaries for workers, more paid vacation time, a three or four day workweek, and so forth. Rent, food, and electricity costs are way higher than they have to be and we shouldn't have to act like slaves to stay alive. We shouldn't have to survive every Bell hooks said we don't just need self-care under capitalism ... we need a community. I hope things improve for you 💛💛💛

[@dodge7246]

I'll never, ever say no to hearing Zoe dunk on PragerU. Looking forward to that video for sure

[@hughcaldwell1034]

I've been playing pretend my entire adult life; I've been pretending I know what the hell I'm doing. In all seriousness, though, most of my imaginative play these days falls firmly into the category that we euphemistically term "adult". Interestingly, this has also been linked to mental and emotional well-being.

[@jerilynb3547]

Great video! My tiny, rural, Appalachian community is working to upgrade our local elementary school's playground to be more inclusive for students and community members with mobility needs and sensory differences. All kids need to play and all kids need a chance to play TOGETHER. The playground is an extension of the classroom. Anybody reading this, I encourage you to look up any efforts to make inclusive playgrounds near you and donate money or time.

[@beep3242]

Heyy, fellow Appalachian! I love seeing us out there :)

[@jerilynb3547]

​@beep3242 howdy neighbor!

[@BigToody]

What features does this playground have? What does it look like?

[@jerilynb3547]

​@BigToody I think the best way to imagine an inclusive playground is to imagine one that isn't inclusive. Right now, our playground has two structures with a basketball court and a black top are with a shade structure in the middle. Because the play structures are in mulch, wheel chair users are confined to the small black top area. They can just sit and play games, often alone. There is a single swing that has straps they can use. For kids with sensory processing differences, there is no place to go to escape the chaos. The one resting spot is in the center, and right next to the basketball courts! That's my sensory nightmare. It's also where the teachers are and I think where the kids who get in trouble have to sit. To make it more inclusive we want to replace the mulch with rubberized surfaces. We plan to replace the structures with ones that have ramps. There are a lot of wheelchair accessible options for movement, like spinners. There's also a chance for imaginative play with structures that look like ships or castles, or places on the ground that can be used to play restaurant or store. There can also be manipulative like tic tac toe or musical instruments. For sensory issues, there are structures that claim to reduce sound and sights and even smells! These structures can be placed out of the way for a quiet place to calm down. For bigger playgrounds having places to walk like paths or having gardens or out of the way areas with lots of manipulatives and shade. These features can be used by everyone. The only trade off is there may be less opportunities for risky play, so kids may have to be creative with their risk taking or use their imaginations more!

[@aleahl4765]

Hi from a fellow Appalachian!! Wishing you and your community the best ❤

[@seanbrady2232]

This year I got to take a class from a well known intellectual who studies Fascism. During office hours, I told him that my hometown had experienced a tragedy and was demonizing a marginalized group, just like his research suggested would happen. I asked him, what he thought were ways to counteract this. I got a response that was essentially, “that’s not my job. I just write about what happens” This video helped me realize why that was so deflating. The unwillingness to be intellectually imaginative flew in the face of everything that professor claims to stand for. Great video!

[@anjetto1]

Every time I suggest ANY action at all about stopping fascism an American will call me an extremist. If I suggest voting, I get told it's rigged. If I suggest organizing, I get called a communist. The professor may have learned what I did over the last 10 years, yanks generally are more okay with fascism than they are with putting in any effort. He's probably just tired of people yelling at him

[@johndemeritt3460]

@seanbrady2232, being intellectually imaginative is what enables us to do more than just develop empathy for others: it allows us to develop empathy for people from a wide variety of socioeconomic and cultural contexts throughout time. This is particularly important for one line of work I want to do: helping others create desirable futures and figure out how to realize those futures. It's important for futures work because we have to be aware that the futures we set in motion today are presents within which others will live. So we should ask how we will likely to be remembered in those futures: will our names be a blessing, or a curse?

[@geographical_oddity]

"Power resides where men believe it resides. It’s a trick. A shadow on the wall. And a very small man can cast a very large shadow." - Game of Thrones

[@leftygurl]

i would also like to bring the idea of “nothing is original” into the discussion because it sucks and i hate it. i can only see that phrasing as something to shoot down creativity, just because we assemble things with shared parts doesn’t mean they aren’t special or unique.

[@edwardfanboy]

Look at it another way: it doesn't mean "don't try to create something new", it means "don't be afraid of basing your creations on previous work, because that's inevitable". It's also an argument against intellectual property - it makes no sense to stake an exclusive claim over something that isn't entirely, or even mostly, yours. My point is, make fanart. Use references. Borrow chord progressions. Stand on the shoulders of giants.

[@ballman2010]

Agreed with both of you. This idea cuts both ways, unfortunately.

[@michaelpastore3585]

Grok's story about hunting the wooly mammoth is just a shallow retelling of Ook's story about hunting the sabre tooth tiger.

[@lawncrow]

@@michaelpastore3585 I always knew Grok was washed up, he's DEFINITELY not getting invited to the cave party next sunday.

[@zinjanthropus322]

You can spend so much energy deconstructing old ideas that you lose your sense of genuinely unique ideas.

[@mikelpelaez]

When something starts with an Ursula K le Guin quote, I already know it's good

[@SpyroAndMrKatFan]

I am an artist and a dreamer who has lost their imagination and the ability to visualize, likely due to CPTSD. I've been frustrated for years about not being creative enough, not being able to daydream anymore, not having dreams. I am desperate to uncover some sort of strand or path that I can follow up on that will help me recover or gain an imagination. For the first time in a long time, I've found something. This video has helped me see that I haven't been imagining enough. Haven't been exercising my ability to imagine or play and create play. I think that finding a DnD group could help me start. Thank you

[@heatherkuhn6559]

Don't limit yourself to D&D. There are loads of other TTRPGs out there and many of them are either in different genres or can be adapted to any setting/genre you choose. There's the World/Chronicles of Darkeness (Horror), Champions (Superheroes) and its cross-genre version, Hero, Call of Cthulhu (Lovecraftian Horror), GURPS (Generic Universal Role-Playing System), FATE, Big Eyes Small Mouth (Anime) and many others.

[@Virjunior01]

Weed is good too, if you are comfortable with it. I'd suggest normal edibles and not smoking. And yes, pretty much all TTRPGs can help your mind grow.

[@thraceburk1683]

When I was in elementary school, they didn't allow us to write fiction. We had to write autobiographical stories from our own lives. I was a child who loved fantasy and wanted to write my daydreams down. But since this wasn't allowed, I'd spend English class doodling or crying in the corner.

[@lyndabethcave3835]

What?! That's tragic, telling kids they can't write fiction is - I'm gobsmacked.

[@HumbleWooper]

I took writing nonfiction biographical stories as a challenge, and tried to come up with believable stories "I" did. Sure I had to keep it realistic, no magic or sci-fi or anything. But the teacher hasn't been there for every moment of my non-school life. They couldn't know I never had a screened back patio for birds to get stuck in and need rescuing. Or that I'd never visited friends with a family vacation house by a lake, and while we were there our canoe got tipped over by college kids in a speedboat zooming past too close.

[@DerpySuX]

I find it extremely interesting that you brought up imagination being discouraged because it’s difficult to control. In a ton of video games some of the most powerful tools are extremely difficult to use effectively, but once you learn how and where to apply them, they become incredible tools. It’s almost like we inherently understand the value of harnessing these kinds of things, but society has conditioned us to reject it.

[@Akerfeldtfan]

I spent most of this video imagining what it would be like to pet that kitty!

[@orsolyafekete7485]

I was petting him with my cursor all the way through (and was imagining just how much would I be scratched to hell if that was my hand :P)

[@maxiwaxipads]

you’re so real for that‼️‼️

[@darkstarr984]

I am so sad I missed talking about what I used to play as a kid! It’s so miserable not being able to play pretend normally. That’s a huge reason I write purely for fun. It helps reengage with my imagination.

[@blankcanvasstudios3463]

Fine, I'll bite: how did you play pretend as a kid?

[@wasserkatze7822]

​@@blankcanvasstudios3463 i also want to share! :) played a lot of "we're poor orphan kids", with my dad or one friend we then traveled cool fantasy worlds (the one i remember was a rainbow world, where everything was made of rainbows so me and him were just rainbow stickfigures) with another friend we always played at school and there was a patch of kinda wild shrubbery and we were growing up in the jungle, first not having language and pointing at things and saying the word we would use for that. i remember chewing on branches to make them into toothbrushes because i had read that that's how some societies got started with brushing teeth :D as an only child i also built lego-dollhouses a lot, with cool elevated beds and climbing walls etc. i should build some cool lego houses again soon. it's really fun

[@RomanQrr]

I probably have been insanely lucky, because my chosen University course, Applied Mathematics, didn't have the problem of "blindly listen to authority". A large portion of my classes consisted of learning why and how the theorems of the past have been invented and proven. It is still a guided tour that avoids most pitfalls on the way, but it always took creative thinking to solve problems presented.

[@MCArt25]

Yea I once roomed with a Mathematician and they told me that university level math is nothing like the "math" we teach in school education, where children are essentially given a book full of "recipes" of already solved problems and told to never ever deviate from these known recipes.

[@dominiccasts]

@@MCArt25 And because of that I failed 2nd year discrete math the first time I took it. Was able to figure it out the second time, but I've never forgiven the elementary & high school systems for not encouraging experimentation enough to be able to cope with unfamiliar paradigms in math later on.

[@IAARPOTI]

I am glad that imagination is not childish act anymore.

[@nuclearocean]

Never has been 🔫 👨‍🚀

[@asemic]

yes it is

[@starcatcherksp1517]

@@asemic imagination is a natural human act. It is not "childish".

[@ununun9995]

​@@asemic what are you typing this on?

[@TheAechBomb]

​@@asemicyou sound like someone who has never made something new

[@hallamshire]

I have thought long and hard about how I was able to keep my imagination intact into adulthood when I have seen sooo many people seemingly lose the ability to imagine something beyond what they see. By the 5th grade, no one was willing to "play imagination" with me anymore and I had a choice: be alone in my imagined worlds or play soccer and have friends. I chose to have friends, but I didnt give up my imagined worlds: I just only went there in my leisure time like it was my own personal TV show. In adulthood, I have had people try to diagnose me with Maladaptive day dreaming - but I don't day dream to cope, it is what I do for entertainment. And it makes me so sad that people have tried to pathologize my imagination. But it is also deeply sad to me when I lead discussion and it is clear that others can't even see the limits they are placing on themselves. I can imagine a better world. And if I can imagine it, I am convinced we can work towards it.

[@DoctorWhoBlue]

I work a pretty menial job, and my coworkers will often complain to me about how boring whatever it is we're doing is. I've mentioned that I don't find it that bad because I just go into my own mind and think about interesting things, and they often seem a little puzzled. There's something kind of sad about that.

[@SpookyShadyGemlin]

I, too, love to daydream and brainstorm, typically about what to turn into a Pokémon next.

[@krapincorporated]

I know there are other people completely obsessed with Fallout right now, but I can't stop thinking about it. I can't stop thinking about how there was something really bright and creative and hopeful that happened in the 50s and that progress was ripped away from us and we can't stop thinking about getting back to that 50s continuous progress. Conservatives want to hold everything down and return to a draconian 50s themed world, but I think the creatives really want to launch into a better world BECAUSE of the progress we made in the 50s.

[@12pentaborane]

I think the American propaganda machine from the 1950's was just that effective we still fall for it today. It was probably one of the last times a top-down system like that could ne effective. The 60's I believe are the consequences of suppressed information from that decade.

[@kingofbirds]

i feel so vindicated by this. i remember being in elementary school, looking at the school system, and saying to myself "this is rubbish right? none of this is real we made it all up" i had the same issue with money and power and all of that. we made it up, its all in our heads. in middle school when i started developing more anxiety i said it to myself again. "this is stupid, why am i anxious if none of it is real anyway? what do expectations and goals matter if its in a fake system." not nearly as well articulated as i can put it now. but i felt crazy because i felt like i was the only one seeing things this way. i more or less grew out of the mindset. even if its fake it still matters to the people around me that i do well in the system so i might as well. thank you for making me feel less crazy.

[@MCArt25]

I mean made up things are still real.

[@cheddarcheezit2647]

​@@MCArt25Yes, but the point of social constructs like money or gender or college degrees are that they're only real because we believe in them, because we invest them with meaning. If tomorrow the entirety of America woke up and decided paper money was worthless, actually, and used only physical coins and online transactions, there would be no functional worth in a dollar bill. Social constructs are absolutely real, but only as far as we allow them to be.

[@krea8402]

I dont remember who or where, but someone once told me: "Artists are adults that didn't forget how to be children". I've thought about that a lot over the years I've spent studying art and I think it's so incredibly true: you cannot be an artist if you forget how to imagine and dream like a child. I think there's good reason so many artistic and imaginative people flock to "fandom spaces" like conventions and online groups. While their interests are deemed as cringe, geeky, lame, or even annoying in other spaces; their passions are celebrated and admired in fandoms. They're allowed to BE and IMAGINE to their hearts content without being shoved down for it. But even people who proudly display their passions often have doubts in the back of their heads that tell them "this isn't okay" because it's VERY hard to de-program a life-time of brainwashing. I've been in "the fandom space" for well over 10 years now, but always been too afriad to show fanart, write about self-inserts, or even go to conventions. I was terrified to admit I liked things "more than usual" because the fist few times I did my parents were GENUINELY worried for me. They thought it was a sign of insanity or something... So I hid it. It was only LAST MONTH that I had the courage to show some friends a self-insert character I'd made because I had been conditioned to believe my interests were unhealthy obsessions (and self-inserts specifically are often shat upon within fandom to this day). I think it comes down to a part of us being unable to truly shake off social conditioning. But my friends LOVED it. So I posted it. And, to my surprise, PEOPLE LOVED IT. So many people on my posts and others' posts have been incredibly supportive and kind; some even said they felt more comfortable sharing their own characters after seeing them. And the more I share of myself, the more I see the people around me do the same. And I only felt comfortable because I saw other people doing the same across social media and irl. Then I realized something: deep down, we ALL want to break from social conventions in some way. All we've needed was an excuse. In short: "Play" is, in my opinion, something we all DESPERATELY need to bring back into our society. We've been conditioned from birth to think of imagination and art as useless and bad... But I've seen and experienced how happy it makes people. It literally changed my life.

[@SpookyShadyGemlin]

Looks like SOMEONE'S on track to living a happy and fulfilling life. Maybe I should post my Fakemon.

[@krea8402]

@@SpookyShadyGemlin Do it! And if you get haters in your comments: delete 'em! People that shat on other people having fun are just mad you're not as sad and repressed as they are.

[@SpookyShadyGemlin]

@@krea8402 Where'd did you post your OCs?

[@x.y.z.gopeith9250]

Yes, I would like to see a video about the Econ 101 class by PragerU.

[@nuclearocean]

I personally have no problems with imagination, but what really sucks is that it could be pretty hard to share my imaginative worlds with someone. Everyone is so grounded, they talk about their plans to find a job, about politics, exams, about this one café they found. All of it is fine by itself, but please, talk to me about your plane of Interior some more! Tell me about moths that carry your summer nights into eternity! How are Swedish King and Lady Astra doing? Has the Green Heart returned to its place in the sky above the Misty Meadows yet? Please, let's talk more about the beautiful things you and I made up...

[@joghnythegurue2710]

When I was at work one time, two of my coworkers where talking about their kid and said kid's friend. They began raving about how the friend "Identifies as a velociraptor" and "The next generation is really going down the toilet!" before calling back to that myth of schools buying cat litter "for kid's who identified as cats/furries" when in reality it was in case they had to GO but couldn't leave the classroom (IE. lockdown, schools shooting, natural disaster, ect). But folks... The kids is are 8. EIGHT. YEARS. OLD. Their clearly underlying bigotry has lead them to demonize a kid playing pretend as some sort of omen of societies direction as a whole!

[@brook_angel]

Iirc the cat litter thing never actually happened. Wasn't that just a made up story by a guy on the Joe Rogan show?

[@Hemostat]

Kids these days are going down the skibidi toilet pipeline. Smh

[@heatherkuhn6559]

@@brook_angel IIRC, the grain of truth behind the wild rumor was buckets of sand kept in classrooms in case of potential active shooter scenarios where the students couldn't leave the room to use the facilities.

[@omarg2079]

The anecdote about Pixar University reminds me about this little story that happened in the NFL years ago (but became public recently) Andy Reid (currently the Kansas City Chiefs head coach but at the time was a Packers assistant coach) was approached by a janitor who told him that they had a great idea for a play. Reid gave them a card to draw the play, and was impressed enough that he kept it and eventually used it to score a touchdown.

[@EricChoiniere]

The head designer of Magic: the Gathering has a weekly column, and this week's article was in memory of his recently passed father ("Like Father, Like Son" by Mark Rosewater, if you're interested). In it, he highlights important lessons around games that his father taught him, and the very first one is "Games serve the players, not vice versa." The anecdote goes that if his dad didn't like how a game they were playing actually worked, he'd change the rules to a way he did. Piaget's research reminds me of that.

[@InterplanarerPennersoeldner65]

My teachers said to me: "You cant beat the system. Its supposed to work that way and some people have to get the short end of the stick; you are here to make sure that its not you." And I thought: "What if we burn every stick?"

[@wilberwhateley7569]

Or "why do we sticks at all?" Funny how we even built a society that all about "sticks" in the first place, isn't it?

[@InterplanarerPennersoeldner65]

@@wilberwhateley7569 very true

[@tJustSoup]

The pragerU Econ 101 would be a perfect collab with Unlearning Economics!!

[@darkstarr984]

I really want to see this.

[@hughcaldwell1034]

You know, I wasn't super into the idea to begin with, but this is a great suggestion.

[@hollosou335]

I was always a very creative kid until was told in 8th grade by my English teacher that imagination is useless in the real world and that I'm "too imaginative". I've limited my imagination ever since... but this video is getting me to rethink that. Thanks.

[@anonymousmurphy]

Learning about this makes me thankful for my autistic brain, and its default mode of “what do you mean ‘because that’s the way we do it’? You need to explain to me why, and if you can’t, then I guess I’m not going to.”

[@arfannawazkhan9075]

Free Palestine 🍉🍉🍉 🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸

[@bojo420]

Ftrtts 🍉

[@polarisjustdothework2258]

Palestinians are free 🙄 free to leave Gaza and Israel, oops, but they aren’t welcome in any Arab countries, free to travel within Israel, however encumbered by checkpoints trying to intercept suicide bombers…which is why Hamas used para gliders for their October 7th massacre, free to educate their children anyway they want…which is why they have taught hatred to the entire last generation, and free to stand up against their tyrannical leadership (although they would be immediately killed by said leadership, and free to use their imaginations and engage in play. “Palestinians” are not oppressed by Israelis, they never have been. They are oppressed by the fanatical ideologies of their leaders, let’s not get it twisted. And for Zoe Bee to heart this comment makes me wonder if she is using her imagination to avoid harsh realities that the people of Gaza-Israel-West Bank can’t ignore. Nothing good can happen until we feel safe! And NOBODY in Israel is safe. If we can’t be part of a peaceful resolution we should truly worry about the planks in our own eyes rather than the specks of dust in other’s eyes. 😢

[@GabeNode21]

​@@polarisjustdothework2258 genocide apologist.

[@polarisjustdothework2258]

Reply immediately removed…your channel your rules, best of luck. This video comes from Hamas leadership, not the people in Gaza. But let me ask, if their main complaint is the occupation of Gaza, why was the entire attack outside of Gaza?? Don’t bother blocking me, I won’t be back kzbin.info/www/bejne/sIWblGaQjMmppKM

[@Radhaun]

I'm sorry, I'm not very clever. What are the watermelon slices for?

[@teribite]

I came from an abusive household that had me very socially isolated but, that never stopped me from imagining. I create stories to understand the world, if I didn't get it, I created a character after it. It's why my stories have a multitude of queer and poc characters with as many ideologies I can somewhat comprehend because, the world is vast and I want to know more and understand others and that's the best way I can. It helped me get through some of the toughest times in my life because at least I could imagine someone who was stronger, who saw the injustice in the world and could take it on, it gave me the strength to keep breathing because I want to share my stories, my creations with those around me because I want to give people who were like me, a person to look up to (because I never had one of those) and someone to be there for them, even if it's just a small character in their head that they can say "yes, that is me! I'm not alone." Imagination is important, stories are important, because they give hope even in the darkest times.

[@kanjonojigoku8644]

to me fandom is a big part of online adult play, im part of many communities for ships and fandoms and so many of us are adults that have jobs, college, spouses, kids, and we connect online by playing with dolls basically lol, fandom writing, drawing, even just talking about characters and their relationships is like playing with dolls, putting them in situations and exploring who we are through it

[@heaththeemissary3824]

Doesn't it take dozens of repetitions to learn a skill by drills, but less than ten if a student is allowed to play? Thanks for this. Play and imagination are so important to mental health, emotional health, open mindedness,... No wonder the people on top don't want anyone to broaden their Overton window enough to question why they're on top.

[@chris_troiano]

When I saw the survey question, I was thinking about how imaginative play can work different for autistic kids, and how questions about it often come up in assessments. When I spoke to my boyfriend, I mentioned I didn’t really enjoy make-believe games but it wasn’t seen as odd since dressing up dolls and arranging the furniture in the dollhouse kept me occupied all the same. He replied: “Oh, that’s not like me at all! I loved to play pretend. I’d line up my stuffed animals and pretend I was a game show host,” as though casting your toys as on-lookers while roleplaying your special interest was the most neurotypical thing.

[@saldoesstuff1065]

Hearing Basquiat’s name after I drew a stippling/crosshatching project of him and Keith Haring in a blue ballpoint pen is validating for me in a very strong way because of how much my hand hurt after that.

[@shakenbacon-vm4eu]

I’m burned out with my current career and am exploring totally different fields, especially acting! It blows me away how fun it is, and I totally agree it’s extremely intimate to act a scene with someone else. In many ways, it’s going against everything I’ve been trained to do in my career that required too many years of formal school. First class felt so weird but also incredibly liberating.

[@ChristopherSadlowski]

Just wait until you act with someone you really, REALLY vibe with! It feels like electricity is literally coursing through your body! You can feel the audience reacting even if you can't see them. OMG there's nothing like it.

[@user-xsn5ozskwg]

This was a great essay, and I really love the practical elements you explored at the end about not only radical inclusion but the necessity and effects of play. It's easy, I think, for a lot of discussions around fascism to require really hunting for a silver lining because the conclusion is often "things can get a little better but we need a radical shift to really make improvements." But this video actually filled me with hope, knowing that the action required is all in me. There are absolutely systemic things that make engaging in imagination easier, but even with a system as broken as ours we can still force better. Also I have no idea how you kept your cool with your cat. They are so distracting and clearly love and trust you lots.

[@cherryblossom8061]

This video came at a perfect time as I've been exploring the Solarpunk aesthetic, the degrowth movement, and similar "new"/"returning" ideologies looking to push the boundaries of imagination beyond "capitalist realism". I'm very grateful for creators like you, Zoe, for using your platform to inspire meaningful change

[@ilse5220]

i’ve been working on something inspired by the solarpunk too!! and it scared me how long it took me to think of a single concept

[@scottbuck1572]

Solar punk is literally just the commodification and capitalization of the degrowth movement. It's just active co-option and I hate it

[@ShinyTillDawn]

Zoe Bee is back!

[@literaterose6731]

And just as importantly: Desmond is back!

[@augustaseptemberova5664]

case in point, to whoever needs to hear this .. don't call people, and especially young people, cringe (so long as what they're doing isn't harming or harassing anyone, obviously), or shame them otherwise. i feel like a lot of people go online to express themselves, their quirks and playfulness, when this type of thing is shut down in their rl environment. getting shut down online too, is just plain cruel.

[@theflyingspaget]

If what they're doing is harming people, still don't call them cringe because that downplays the significance of it. Cringe is too petty of a word to be useful in any context other than as a verb.

[@al_eggs]

The hate for Gen Alpha online is really disheartening. We went from complaining about boomers’ attitude on generational solidarity to mirroring it as soon as kids became more visible through their enjoyment of things online. We need to just let people be people - harmful things like the appropriation of terms from incel culture deserve to be called out, but there’s no reason to hate on kids for enjoying themselves. As a recent example that really annoys me, The Amazing Digital Circus gets a lot hate for letting kids engage with dark, existential topics in a still child-friendly way.

[@MCArt25]

"Do not suppress the part of you that is cringe, suppress the part that cringes."

[@TheCyberate]

I felt the line about not questioning if an equation is the only way to solve an issue. It is so indicative of how i felt and still feel about school. Regardless of how any problem is tackled, in math, it is preached that there is always the "right" solution. Deviating from it is considered bad and you should not do that. And now thinking about it, i think that that is why math is considered the "worst" for most ex-students and current students. Unmotivated and overworked teachers will not care since the sheet says so. Since they are unimaginative, forced by a system to make them unimaginative and being the Vanguard of the most rigid part of schooling. I wish school would get a major reform. i wish that future generations never have to worry about their creativity questioned again.

[@mattmanncan]

The thing is....I feel that, but maths does kind of work like that. It's an imagined (albeit extremely useful) system designed on strict rules. There is creativity, but like chess, you need to study years of strategy before you are able to create new ones. Why should people think they can go rewrite the rules when they don't even understand them?

[@TickTockTimeTraveler]

I'm teaching after-school visual arts programming in a really underserved district at the moment, and trying to focus our exploration of art media and experimentation. These kids do not have the luxury of open-ended creativity at school or home most of the time, and often initially struggle when I insist on projects without goals xy&z. But I get the chance to see them open up to the idea of drawing, a self-guided imaginative challenge with infinite possibilities, and give it their best shot. All I can do is hope they run with the tools I can provide, and continue to cultivate that internal curiosity and joy in the face of a school district that's probably going bankrupt by the time my students hit middle school.

[@TickTockTimeTraveler]

Of course, this is coming from one of the most expensive places to live in the country, with income disparity nearing astronomical ratios. It's always down to who "deserves" the money. There's no room in this 'fascist imaginary' system for students in need of public services, the students of the working class who maintain the luxurious lives of the privileged few.

[@fourcatsandagarden]

its so dystopian that incogni has to exist, but I am glad it does since we do need it.

[@louisng114]

In a good math class, students ARE supposed to question and learn why the equations work.

[@Ujames1978Rises]

Thank you so much for this video Zoe, because what you describe here as "The Fascist Unimaginative" is what I used to describe years ago as "The Concrete Mind." And your name is a much better description because, unfortunately, the word "Concrete" implies that the reactionary or "Fascist" mind is entirely fixed and rigid. When on the contrary, (as you suggest when you talk about them portraying children as killers, etc,) the mental gymnastics in which they engage to try and maintain the status quo are literally beyond belief! The mental equivalent of a juggler riding a unicycle along a bungee rope and performing spectacular stunts to keep all of the water in the glass which she is carrying; all while insisting that the ground on which she's riding is perfectly stable and the slightest upset will doom us all! So indeed, as you explain here Zoe, the issue is never a lack of imagination, but rather, its criminal misuse. Because as a direct result of being motivated entirely by existential fear, Fascists and other reactionaries devote all of their incredible imaginary feats to maintaining a rigid and suffocating status quo, insisting that "There Is No Alternative." But a status quo which is inevitably doomed to collapse, because someone, somewhere will always imagine a better, freer and happier world. 🌺

[@jeffengel2607]

Imagination has a role to play in _spreadsheet design_ even. It's an application that starts right there in the depths of routine mundanity, but it can go up from there. Heck, so can how to apply to jam on toast. I wouldn't want us to keep it to the most mundane and practical things - that's just handicapping it and ourselves another way - but I wouldn't want us to forget about the "domestic" uses or the low-volume settings of it either. Play and create everywhere and all the time!

[@Supermunch2000]

Zoe's voice is so warm, fuzzy and calming - hearing her talking about such weighty things lends it more gravitas, like I need to pay attention so I don't let her down.

[@podemosurss8316]

Biology student here: As someone who is taking a scientific degree, I find that (at least in my field), a large degree of imagination is required when it comes to investigating, though obviously tempered in reality: we constantly need to make hypothesis that fit the data, and later verify those hypothesis.

[@perrisavallon5170]

The vice principal in my elementary school banned imaginary games, alongside literally every activity that wasn't jump rope or handball. One of the teachers felt bad and tried to teach us to crochet (with tools she bought herself), but that was banned too. I still don't understand why. Why does an adult do that do kids? Did she convince herself this would help us in some way?

[@arfannawazkhan9075]

Disclose, Divest - we will not stop, we will not rest 🍉🍉.

[@jerrypeters1157]

I can't avoid the consideration that the lack of good play has influenced the mental health crisis. Thanks for what you do. You're awesome.

[@IkomaTanomori]

"The human imagination stubbornly refuses to die. And the moment any significant number of people simultaneously shake off the shackles that have been placed on that collective imagination, even our most deeply inculcated assumptions about what is and is not politically possible have been known to crumble overnight." - David Graeber

[@muphart]

This was great and I needed to hear it now. Been too rigid and intolerant with myself lately. I've never thought about how using my imagination as a kid has shaped who I am by helping me work through my personal ethics.

[@lococomrade3488]

Don't be so hard on yourself. We love you. ❤ Go have some fun. Make something silly. Break something. ❤

[@liv-_E]

Omgggg I’ve been hyped for this one since the community post!!

[@gallonofcats1097]

CAT!

[@dodge7246]

I see your cat and I raise you: DOG!

[@marzipanmouse]

when bosses say they want innovation, what they mean is, "give me the same things, just make it look different."

[@LMF1716]

One thing that I think is important on the note of play being important: it's important that the kids get to play in THEIR way. I didn't have a lot of time to explore things the way I wanted to in middle and high school. And looking back with this new perspective, I neglected homework desperate to seek out that way of playing and it severely impacted my grades. I had ways of being creative in art and music classes, but just wasn't interested in those avenues of expression.

[@MrMcJazzhands]

I remember back in high school I was in the disciplinarian's office for, among other things, my habit of talking to myself. I use it as a problem solving tool, but apparently no one else did that? Weird. Anyway, fast-forward to last November and I decided to participate in NaNoWriMo and not only reached the 50,000 word goal by the end of month, but I'm still working on the novel I started and thinking to myself "Man, I really want to flesh out this world I've built." I'm 32 and it's so nice to get back to working my imagination.

[@NayrAnur]

"I reject your reality and substitute my own." -Adam Savage ETA: This talk of imagination and fascism reminds me a lot of the Mage: The Ascension RPG and I'm all for it.

[@ATAGChozo]

Having interests like game design, playing and DM'ing tabletop games, art, and writing keep my imagination almost constantly active and I'm really thankful for it. I never wanna lose that creative, imaginitive spark as I age, I wanna be 60 and still roleplaying conversations between my OCs in the shower

[@Crazy_Bomb]

I compensate for societal pressure to be grounded by having a rich inner life. Imagining scenarios to music, envisioning things I want to see made into games. The problem with that is that now its hard to even talk about it in public or with friends, let alone make sinething with it.

[@HarkertheStoryteller]

One of the dire forces in opposition to imagination that I'm currently noting is the use of AI in an attempt to automate creativity, imagination, and play.

[@pidgeymon2353]

the first time I really encountered a discouragement of imagination was in elementary school. our art teacher was out of class for the day and the sub told us to do some art in a very specific way, but when she saw a students drawing, she tore into him. the drawing was what you would expect from a child, but she was furious. she threw it in the trash. everyone in the class was appalled. none of us had seen anything like this before, and our usual art teacher would be furious if someone did this. a few students grabbed the principal and told her what had happened, begging her to at the very least scold the sub, but nothing happened. luckily, when we got back from art class, our teacher let us write about what happened, how it made us feel, and it was a really sweet and touching moment where she let us really reflect on it. she told us she would bring our reports to the principal, but I don't think she did and I don't blame her. i think she just wanted us to understand that we should still tell an adult when something makes us upset, even if they brush it off. i really loved that teacher. she encouraged us to stand up for our classmate, and everyone was so nice to that kid for the day and it's really wholesome looking back

[@DrownedLamp]

Shoutout to the thing that would follow the car at night swinging (jumping, skating, moving) from street light to street light. Hope ur doing well Hoppey.

[@Marcela-tx7gh]

"Giving fake interviews in the shower[...]" Why are you in my shower Zoe???

[@papermr.magolorguy7957]

If there’s one things fascism hates, it’s the childlike imagination of a better more egalitarian world that holds onto hope during even its darkest hours.

[@Hurlebatte]

"The circumstances of the world are continually changing, and the opinions of men change also; and as the government is for the living, and not for the dead, it is the living only that has any right in it. That which may be thought right and found convenient in one age, may be thought wrong and found inconvenient in another. In such cases, Who is to decide, the living, or the dead?" - Thomas Paine

[@JoseMariaLuna]

This was so beautiful 💛 Thank you so much for this!

[@zoe_bee]

Thank you so much!! 💜

[@thestralspirit]

This is the kind of stance a Dustbringer would have that I could get behind. Though "Playtime Advocate" is much less cool than "Dustbringer"

[@Caterfree10]

The lack of imagining outside the boundaries crops up so much ime. People can’t imagine Luke Skywalker as anything but a badass, so they recoil at The Last Jedi’s broken down Luke. They can’t imagine powerful Force users outside of the Skywalkers, so they balk at Rey being a nobody. They can’t imagine a Sephiroth time traveling to destroy the world in a new way, so they balk at Remake Trilogy’s shifts and changes to tell a new story while in conversation with the OG. It’s the same song and dance all over the place. It’s exhausting tbh. And while fanfic can seem like a retread, a lot of it is carving spaces for seeing ourselves in some way. Whether it’s giving depth to underdeveloped female characters (see: Kairi in the Kingdom Hearts series) or the myriad of gay fanfiction, it’s both a love letter and a challenge to the canon. And some people cannot see that and it saddens me. I should foreseen noting TLJ discourse would start something. Need people to realize I noted TLJ only here, and that TROS is a writing nightmare because of trying to appease the fanboys who couldn’t accept the changes Rian tried to bring in.

[@natestadler2352]

This is the best comment I have ever read in a KZbin video, thank you

[@hawkeyesblue9254]

I think u can criticize a story you don't feel is connected...like in star wars when they say "somehow palpatine returned"...like that is just lazy writing...it's not that I can't imagine a way in which he could have returned...I have the imagination...but it's s**t writing...I feel the same about Luke in the last Jedi...is it believable that a hero falls into despair...yes it is possible for anyone...but for me the reasoning for it was terrible... especially since we never saw Luke conntect with anyone from his temple to show how much he could have cared about his students to make them dying effect him so much

[@xWood4000]

It saddens me how the creators behind Star Wars squandered the opportunity to make great scripts with those new elements. As hawkeyes says, I can imagine a better story than they did, or atleast one that works better with the internal logic of the original trilogy while still being forward thinking

[@AlessandroRodriguez]

I don't connect with your comment, has is already point out, all is "somehow [this happen]" is not a viewer's problem is a writer's problem

[@handeggchan1057]

I only wish that Disney could imagine Sci-fi that wasn't Star Wars!

[@nharber9837]

The reason schools don’t value creativity is because the American school system was created to churn out good, obedient, loyal factory workers who can read and follow instructions and perform specific functions flawlessly for extended periods. Asking “well what if I do this instead?” Is dangerous in a factory while dealing with machines. They don’t care about the creativity of factory workers. You aren’t there to create, you’re there to produce. They want people who think the same, and don’t question the status quo. The ones who are meant to be making decisions went to different schools with other rich kids who will be handed the world and power. If you went to public schools, your creativity and independent thought not only put them at risk of a lawsuit (you getting hurt on a machine that can end you in moments, or change your life going forward), or threaten the power structure (unions, or questioning why things are done as they are, or worse, coming up with other options). The people at the top don’t want us thinking. Is thinking is dangerous because eventually we’ll wonder “what happens if we use another power structure?” As that removes the unearned money and power from the top.

[@jjkthebest]

I especially hate this in science education. Once you're doing real science, creativity is one of the most important things you need. But high school maths and science is just following the rules, which is only half of what you need to actually do science.

[@LyraFay12]

I'm autistic and I feel like people try to shut down my imagination everywhere because I'm like maybe can this system can be shifted and changed to be simplified.

[@autumncrowcus]

I have noticed in my own life that there seems to be a lot of overlap between imagination and fear, to the extent that I sometimes think of my anxiety as undirected imagination. I can sometimes disrupt an anxiety spiral by telling myself, "Okay, that was an interesting story. What's a different one?" Because of that, when you connected fascism to a failure of imagination, I immediately thought about how useful fear is in manipulation. There is so much fear in the world, in the news, and in the media that, it seems to me, is used to manipulate people. Learning to exercise our imaginations may be one way of pushing back against that. I saved a lot of the books you referenced. Thanks for citing your sources.

[@shadow.chicken]

My poetry teacher made my class read Spring and All by William Carlos Williams, and ever since, I've been brutally aware of my struggles with stretching my imagination further. It has also made me brutally aware of how literal and practical I used to be. These days, it pains me to realize how unimaginative some of my peers are. In one of our class discussions about spring and all, some students argued that imagination is overrated and unnecessary. Those students, I've now come to realize that those people are also the most infuriating, fun killing, most unfunny, repetitive, predictable, un-self aware, least empathetic, people I know. I'm honestly infuriated that we live in a world where people can get to a state where they just become unimaginative, frustrating messes.

[@Jay.Taylor]

"Imagination is at the heart of empathy." Ah, so that's why so many people have trouble imagining 😂

[@desu38]

A "shamelessly generous parasite" is called a symbiont. ☝🤓

[@thulium_3169]

what's pretty cool is that I got the notif for this vid and then got the new one by Ted-Ed which is abt why people followed him in WW2

[@wokeaf1242]

1st of all, good to see you're good, my favorite teacher. Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance was hired by DC comics to write the then new version of Doom Patrol back in 2016. In an interview he talked about how he wanted to add to the lore of these weird super heroes and this is what he said, "We wanted to create a new type of comic for readers going through a transformation of their own. Anyone who wants something more, something different is a dangerous human and dangerous humans create things." I thought of this quote after watching your video. Be well and stay safe out there.

[@traewilson5127]

This video makes me reflect on my daily daydreams of the things I wish to create. Ooh, to create a short film! An animation! A video game! I've literally never made anything in my life, though, and the things I would have to know to do this are enormous and paralyze me with fear. So I don't create. My story remains in my head, replaying barely visible puppets shaped like other things I've seen (because my imagination is so dire it can't even make up how characters appear in my head). My imagination was stunted at some point, atrophied like my muscles (I'm also overweight and get no exercise, but that's beside the point). And I have no clue what to do to build it. And even if my imagination is big and strong as a friggin' sequoia tree, it won't matter, because I'm poor, and it takes VERY expensive things to realize these dreams. Dreams. At what point do dreams cross over into delusion? I almost feel at points like this story is a pipe dream, hindering me from living my life. I am 30 years old and I've done nothing in my life. Absolutely nothing. I have no hobbies. No skills. All I have is my mind, and scraps of imagination, and a whole heaping pile of useless influences. I would like to propose a more universal term for the fascist imaginary - *"Malignant imagination".* When imagination, like a cancer, grows out of control and consumes the host, encouraging hopelessly impossible dreams that can swiftly turn to dark, even evil directions depending on where that imagination decides to spread itself into. Excellent video as ever, Zoe, it's going straight in my "best video essays" playlist.

[@desudesudesu5326]

8:20 I'd just like to say that I think it's really important to emphasise imagination in teaching maths and encouraging imaginative questions. A lot of the difficulty I encountered in learning maths at university is understanding the need to ask about why something is done the way it is. For me, at school, maths was taught rigidly with little emphasis on proof and exceptions to "rules."

[@joesiemoneit4145]

jean luc picard said "to say you have no choice is a failure of imagination." and thats what it leads to, isnt it. and my parents say "it is what it is and you cant do anything about it." and it fits because my parents are the most unimaginative doomerboomer sadfolks i can think of. neither my father nor my mother have even one single hobby. yet I AM THE ONE who got diagnosed with chronic depression. so i hereby thank captain jean luc picard for being a better influence on me than my parents ever were

[@joeyrufo]

Imagination is more important than most people realize!

[@markmerk1296]

I’m 29 years old, and I still love stretching my playful imagination for the pure joy of doing so. At a point in my early adulthood when I realized there was no actual shame in buying toys/plushies for myself, I started collecting them again like I did when I was a kid. I also resurrected the idea from when I was a kid that all these toys (the characters they were of anyway) lived in a fictional world together (as an adult I’ve learned this is called a paracosm). The larger world is inhabited by all the pokemon species I have final evo plushes of (I have over 300 of those) and the actual characters (including the pokemon who are characters in smash bros) live in a city called Nearagon (also the unofficial name I’ve given my apartment, from the Gaelic translation of “Nest of the Dragon”, I’m one quarter Irish and I’ve always loved dragons and their collections of treasure). I even have lots of headcanons about how the characters that live there interact with each other. For instance, since Chino from Gochiousa doesn’t have Tippy with her, she sometimes lets Pikachu sit on her head. The villainous characters like Sephiroth, Bowser, and Doctor Doom, while retaining their personalities, have mostly given up their evil ways to serve the needs of the greater community. Heck even the giant microbe plushes I have (14 of them) are citizens, and they work for Doctor Mario at the town clinic/hospital. It’s just a fun little thing that I have. I don’t know if it’s doing imagination right, since I’m not like creating new characters or something (I still think of new stuff and write it down from time to time, I just remember some video where a guy was reviewing Terry Gilliam’s Brazil and he talked about how the main character dreams he’s a superhero but at least they’re HIS dreams, and how superhero movies aren’t the peaople’s dreams but are the dreams of corporations sold to them by those in power for profit, or at least they USED to be profitable, and the reviewer is glad that trend seems to be fading) but man if I don’t enjoy my paracosm.

[@oregonsenior4204]

"Should I take a look at PragerU's Econ 101 Class" OH HELL YES.