Object of The Mind - Convenient Fictions

Convenient Fictions

Social reality is composed of many standards and inventions that facilitate communication, but which are ultimately objects of the mind. For example, money is an object of the mind which currency represents. Similarly, languages signify ideas and thoughts.

Objects of the mind are frequently involved in the roles that people play. For example, Acting is a profession which predicates real jobs on fictional premises. Charades is a game people play by guessing imaginary objects from short play-acts.

Imaginary personalities and histories are sometimes invented to enhance the verisimilitude of fictional universes, and the immersion of role-playing games. In the sense that they exist independently of extant personalities and histories, they are believed to be fictional characters and fictional time frames.

Science fiction is abundant with future times, alternate times, and past times that are objects of the mind. For example, in the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, the number 1984 represented a year that had not yet passed.

Calendar dates also represent objects of the mind, specifically, past and future times. In The Transformers: The Movie, which was released in 1986, the narration opens with the statement, "It is the year 2005." In 1986, that statement was futuristic. During the year 2005, that reference to the year 2005 was factual. Now, The Transformers: The Movie is retro-futuristic. The number 2005 did not change, but the object of the mind that it represents did change.

Deliberate invention also may reference an object of the mind. The intentional invention of fiction for the purpose of deception is usually referred to as lying, in contrast to invention for entertainment or art. Invention is also often applied to problem solving. In this sense the physical invention of materials is associated with the mental invention of fictions.

Convenient fictions also occur in science.