Fantasy

Many are wary of it, and in my opinion, they're wrong, because I believe fantasy is something noble. And it's also a serious, demanding thing. First of all, because it takes imagination, as well as courage, to build bridges, make peace, and achieve forgiveness. The origin of this word dates back to an ancient and, above all, prolific Greek verb: phaino. With all its multifaceted meanings, it means to show, to shine, to make clear and glaring. Fantasy has nothing to do with illusions, which, etymologically speaking, are the offspring of failure. Unfortunately, it must be admitted that fantasies have acquired a bad reputation, as deceptions and fictions, enemies of the splendor of truth, but that's only a small part of its meaning, and not the essential one. Because imagination is about creativity, about building new pieces of reality, rather than mystifying it. Things that didn't exist before, visions that couldn't be shared before. It would be enough to wander around a little to recognize that the imagination of those who came before us was great. Imagination has produced things that in turn stimulate new insights and achievements, in the arts as well as in everyday life, in technology, in the coexistence of different people. Imagination, then, is about the ability to explain. It takes imagination to explain the infinitely large and the infinitely small: from the formation of stars to the functioning of DNA, and beyond. And indeed, it takes even more to discover it.


NP May 2025
Fabio Arduini