About

Part notebook, part newsletter, Coimaginations is about the shared ideas that shape who we enact and how we live.

Coimaginations is primarily written by me, Sam Chua. I enjoy discussing and diving deeper into the stuff I write about, so feel free to reach out. I also occasionally consult via Metacata, so if something here feels interesting or relevant for the work you're doing, that can be explored further.

Why Coimaginations?

First, ideas take on greater life when shared: from imagination to co-imagination. The power of memes compounds as they multiply. A lone idea is often crazy. A widespread idea is simply common sense or, in another word, culture.

Second, shared ideas shape who we think we are and consequently, how we behave. I like to use the word enact here as it captures the role-playing essence (conscious or otherwise) of human life. We live out the identities and worldviews we believe in. So a co-imagination is a shared idea expressed in the medium of life.

Third, as a social species with the ability (and track record) of reshaping entire planets, our co-imagination is also the process of our co-images (shared ideas) shaping the collective nations we choose to see ourselves as and live as. To borrow Benedict Anderson's concept of nations as imagined communities, our shared imaginations determine the communities we choose to enact. In short, co-imagi-nations.

The ideas we choose to share shape who we enact and how we live. My hope with this site is to help us be a bit more thoughtful about what (and maybe whose) coimaginations we are living out, and if there might be upgrades worth pursuing.