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August 17, 2008 6:12 PM

It's been a week since the opening ceremonies of the Olympics, and we now have the historical achievement of Michael Phelps' winning of 8 gold medals in 2008. This marker will probably not be matched ever, or if so, in a very, very long time, especially considering that it's been 36 years since Mark Spitz won 7 gold medals in the '72 Olympics.

It was striking that in one interview Phelps gave he mentions the power of imagination and the role it played in making his dream real. His coach also mentioned that he always stressed to Phelps how important imagination was in his pursuit of his dream. It's a deep concept, that none other than Albert Einstein stressed in a famous interview: "Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."

In the arts, too, of course, this concept of imagination is central to making real a vision, be it in painting, dance, music, literature, etc. So here you have imagination as central to creating something new - in the Olympics, in Science, and in the Arts.

Now, if we could only get our leaders to imagine a new world order full of peace and green energy, with universal health care and prosperity for all, we might be able to achieve something. Remember - things only got this way because of humans and they can change because of humans...and our imaginations...

Rick Anderson over at The Whispering Crane Institute has similar comments...