Talk:Imaginary friend

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[edit] Examples in Popular Culture

Is this list really necessary? I don't think it adds anything valuable and informational to the article, just creates a place for people to name their favorite pop-culture imaginary friends. That's not really the point of a Wikipedia article. 209.233.25.229 (talk) 02:24, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Calvin and Hobbes

I think that the link to Calvin and Hobbes should be removed. Hobbes is not an imaginary friend, as Bill Watterson has emphasized. For this reason there is no concrete definition of Hobbes' reality, so that there will be no need for an explanation of the interaction between Calvin and Hobbes. Scorpionman 22:02, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

Personally, I dont care what Bill Watterson wants to emphasize. Hobbes is a toy-doll as shown in many strips, and only Calvin see's him as a real companion. This is an imaginary friends, and until Bill Watterson would like to suggest a real alternative (even something ridiculous like it has to do with alternate universes or whatever) this is an imaginary friend whether he likes it or not, more so than something like "Fosters" where the so called "imaginary friends" actually manifest instantly into reality.

Hobbes' effects are often manifest, for instance when Hobbes injures Calvin upon bursting through the door (the dirt and scratching on Calvin are often observed by his Mother) or, to a lesser extent, when he hits Calvin with snowballs. And while debatable, Calvin's words are often accompanied by Hobbes' illustrations, whose credit in the picture books penned by Calvin is uncontested. --24.17.13.160 02:15, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

That above was me --The reverend 02:16, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

This is absurd. If we followed your logic, all imaginary friends in literature and film would have to be swiped from the list, because you can always speculate that maybe there's some reality to them simply because we're being shown the imaginary friend as though it's for real. marbeh raglaim 18:13, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] God?

Is there some POV behind putting God in the See also? --Damian Yerrick (☎) 23:46, 26 May 2006 (UTC)

You see, God is an imaginary friend! Get it! Ha-HA! --Dans1120 20:09, 27 May 2006 (UTC)

No no no, god is just like an imaginary friend, so it should be in see also. Even the article states that "It has also been suggested that deities, spirits, totems, demons, and similar supernatural beings are the invisible friends of adults and children alike." Lapinmies 20:35, 27 May 2006 (UTC)

Invisible, yes. Imaginary, POV. Should this debate be taken to invisies.com? --Damian Yerrick (☎) 01:42, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

Imaginary, POV; invisible, POV, IMHO. Since the existence of God has yet to be proven, all exchanges relating to this are bound to be POV. I do agree that putting God under see also is not appropriate, even though personally I don't think that calling God an imaginary friend is all that far off.--213.172.254.113 08:50, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

The existance of god can never be proven or disproven, as there is no evidence calling any deity Not-imaginary is POV. By this I mean that the basic state of man is non-belief - the jump to believing in a god requires imagination, and so it should be stated in the article. Captain Crush 14:44, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

How about where )s/he/it/they('re at now, in with the deities, demons, angels, and hobgoblins? And with the clarifying phrase afterward? It make the point that it has been a subject of debate (among some philosophers, definitely...dammit, now I have to go reference hunting again!) without making it factually presented as a definite conclusion with no controversy attached.

Resonanteye

uhmn, i agree that god is an imaginary friend. it's invented for make the people feel good and protected, and never feel lonely. It has the same objectives, the only difference is that people belive that he commands them, and not the contrary, and that it's a colletive imaginary friend. God is nothing but a way of feeling safe and in company of someone. And earn money, sure, as the Catolic Church could tell you all...

but i guess it should be more imparcial in the article. We're a open thing here, there are many different opinions. Julia Palazzo04/13/2007

Right. Although it may be a fact that God is an imaginary friend, and it may actually be a demonstrable fact, since most people are unwilling to acknowledge it we aren't allowed to just state that outright. Marijuanarchy 16:20, 17 September 2007 (UTC)

Some semantics on the god case. Imaginary does not equal fictitious. I can imagine a lovely ice cream in my freezer, it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Demonwebb 00:28, 19 October 2007 (UTC)

For the same point, but without so much controversy, I think the link should point to Bicameralism instead. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.137.164.183 (talk) 22:39, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Re-write

This article needs to be redone, its not encyclopedic or even well worded. BethEnd 20:38, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] How frequent was my behaviour?

I remember when I was 9 and I (sort of) had an imaginary friend. I say "sort of" because I never actually acted as if he was physically there with me: that is, I was not really convinced that my imaginary friend was real. Instead, I was more focussed on convincing other people that he was real. I made up an elaborate story about him (he was an alien from another dimension, and his people were the keepers of all secrets of all children from all inhabited planets; a portal leading to his dimension could be opened by pronouncing a secret phrase). I often drew short comics about him, and I even made audio recordings of him, complete with sound effects that I made with this toy and voice distortions (to simulate the voices of the aliens) that I obtained by speaking into a hollow globe made of porous plastic. If someone asked where my imaginary friend was, I did not say he was there just beside me and he was invisible; instead, I said he was not there: he was in his dimension with his people, and I would never open a portal with someone else watching, or else his dimension would be invaded by nosy people. Here I ask: was my case an exception, or is it more frequent than I think?

Devil Master, 23 Jul 2006, 13:17 (MET)

I did the same. Sometimes I even forgot about my friend until someone else reminded me. BethEnd 21:09, 23 July 2006 (UTC)

I did the same, an imaginary labrador named Chocolate. Captain Crush 14:46, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Popular Culture

something needs to be added about imaginary friends in culture. For one, in CAST AWAY, we have the memorable Wilson. I have heard of other movies with imaginary friends, and one (whose name escapes me) was a horror based on the premise of an imaginary friend becoming real and killing people or summut of that nature. It would be apriciated if some people could add to these and perhaps we'll end up with something annex-worthy. --71.107.69.226 05:25, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

one example... drop dead fred another - Dave; Hugo's imaginary friend in the TV Series 'Lost'. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 139.222.214.100 (talk) 14:40, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] My imaginary friend

Imaginary frineds are not real they are imaginary whitch here means they are not real you just imagine they are real. Now I am a girl who is young, and I happen to have an imaginary cat. If you think kids are weird for having them then thats ok just think about thats how we feel. It may be kind of like a religion but its not. It's just that people who have them may feel lonely or just want to imagine things and have fun. Just be kind to children and maybe even adult who have one their not weird, they are just trying to have fun.

You're correct-it's actually been proven that imagining a person or event with possible grounds in reality (such as an imaginary cat) can stimulate the person int pursuing such a person or event in reality-for example, if one imagines a conversation between themselves and their potential date, asking the person out is much easier because the person has already gone over the conversation in several different ways. 69.175.204.133 23:18, 8 September 2006 (UTC)

Exactly, "the secret" documentary is about how the imagination manifests into real life. I think "trying to have fun" summarizes my experience on the topic and I'm sick of the negative ideas people have about this. You'd be crazy if you thought your friend (or cat :)) was real, but I think the majority of us know that they are in our heads and there is nothing unhealthy with this outlook.

concurred, with above fr a mental health specialist pov. :p 03:14, 5 November 2007 (UTC)

Add to discussion: we need to destinguish the diff between: imaginary friends (to include the afromentioned cat and characters fr foster's home for imaginary friends) vs alter ego (marshall fr mr.brooks) and vs a presence no one else can see (captain howdy fr the exorcist). :p 03:14, 5 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Imagining being a magic user

I had a simular case when I was a kid. But I never actually believed that I had an imaginary friend. In my case I imagined a magic-using robot as my guardian/friend. He'd watch over me until I became older and could use magic at which point he'd reveal himself to me. I'd see him flying along beside the car when I was riding in a car on the freeway, or imagine him talking with the president while waiting at the DR's office or while bored in school. I realize now that I probablly wanted to imagine that I would one day have greater control over the world than I had as a child.

I later thought that if I did the right combination of actions (seemingly random like opening a cabinet door 5 times and running in circles) I'd unlock some ancient, 'chance possibillity' in the universe and aquire the unusual abillity to use magic also. I would then take control of a group of magic users (including the magic user) and go about improving the world, in childish ways, like saving endagered species, stopping wars and building space-stations.

Later when I was leaving Elementary School I realized how much time I was wasting daydreaming about my imaginary friend(s) and I deiberately imagined them being destroyed in a bonfire. I basically killed them off so I could return to reality and live my life. Does this incident make me different from other people in a positive way, or is this perhaps not as unique as I thought. --~~JeremeyThatcher~~

Heh. That fate reminds me of an imaginary friend I had. I wrote his name on a piece of paper and when I found the paper years later, I looked for the place where I had last seen him and saw a little skeleton there and stupidly thought "Oh man, I forgot to feed him". Of course, in the blink of an eye I was back to reality. I was too grown-up to dwell on it any longer.--190.74.126.248 01:54, 29 September 2007 (UTC)

Uh, sorry for the unrelatedness. No, it's not an uncommon thought. In my example, for instance, it was I who could perform the magic, but only on my imaginary friend (I would pick up a twig, and wave it to make him taller, shorter, harier, balder, bluer, etc). In the end, it also proved to be a desire to have more control than as a child, by giving me control over something even if I knew deep down that something wasn't real.--190.74.126.248 02:09, 29 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Fight Club

Perhaps someone should add a reference to the book/movie "Fight Club"? Although, that might give away some of the details... --70.251.66.211 06:37, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

I'd rather not have it there personally, even with a spoiler warning someone could ruin the movie for themself.

Gaah! If anyone reads this before they see the movie it's going to ruin it for them. Who would be such a jerk that they would even mention this?!?

Fight Club doesn't belong. Someone who has delusions/hallucinations is very different from what our society considers to be an "imaginary friend", not to mention the problem of spoilers mentioned already. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.188.99.106 (talk) 09:40, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] AfD

This article was nominated for deletion on 2006 October 14. The result of the discussion was keep, nomination withdrawn.

[edit] POV

Much of this article DOES need a rewrite. For example: "Having imaginary friends at an advanced age should be looked at by a proper psychologist, as it may be a mental or drug-related problem" (Imaginary friend 1). That is not an NPOV statement. An older person can have an imaginary friend without having a problem. - Noone 16:49, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

I am a 22 year old and have my imaginary friend for 11 years now, half my life. He knows he's not real, we discuss in great lengths about our relationship, and he does nothing to negatively effect my life in anyway, and in fact enhances it by being the more rational of the two. I am not a lonely person, I go out regularly but for a short stage a few years ago, I started to believe there was something wrong with the idea, because of stupid comments like "its a mental/drug problem, see a psycologist". I now try to find more information on it and am frustrated by the lack of writings on the subject for adults that don't automatically see it as a problem. Does this relate to anyone else? Does anyone know of a good source to find this info? Because I am quite the expert on the subject as you can imagine (haha) and could contribute quite a bit.

Ask a theist, they're very keen on imaginary friends 82.17.241.68 16:23, 19 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] helping

I'm going to give it a copyedit NPOV run-through while my coffee brews. Resonanteye 14:44, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

Honestly, I don't think this needs a re-write so much as to be filled out a little, and to have more sources for the information. It's not all that badly put together right now, it just doesn't have enough in it.

Drop me a note if I made any glaring errors, I would appreciate your feedback. Resonanteye

I think the article now misses the opposite of the imaginary friend, the imaginary enemy. Best regards, Brz7 12:39, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

I agree, I wasn't sure about that one and maybe should have left it. Resonanteye 22:32, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

Is there an origin for the term imaginary enemy or is it a neologism? If the latter, I don't think it deserves an article. Antonrojo 18:18, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Article

LiveScience has a page about imaginary friends: http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/061204_mm_imaginary_friends.html --Gray Porpoise_{Your wish is my command!} 22:05, 4 December 2006 (UTC)]]

[edit] Harvey

I don't think he belongs in the list because it is made quite clear in the play and the movie that, although invisible, he is real and not imaginary. 64.231.15.43 11:41, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

Actually, a lot of the imaginary friends in literature and film turn out to be "real, not imaginary," but that's just a conceit. The reality of Harvey the Pookah is only hinted at during a few moments of the film. Symbolically, it still represents an imaginary friend, just as Snuffulufugus (however you spell that) does. marbeh raglaim 18:10, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Likely merge

Based on the AFD for Imaginary enemy, it looks like this will be merged into this article, leaving the military term version of the term there. If there is no evidence that 'imaginary enemy' is a common psychological term, I suspect that most of that information moved here will be deleted as unverified. Antonrojo 20:03, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Are imaginary friends a mainly American phenomenon?

Im British and 41 and have raised a daughter, but I have never heard of this imaginary friend issue except from watching American tv. Here, we tend to play along with a child's imagination, they love their fairy tales and so on, but as they reach a certain age, I would say 8-10 on average, they realise that there is no tooth fairy, Santa Klaus, or elves at the bottom of the garden. I used to hug a blanket, and most kids have a teddy or something, so maybe thats the closest to an imaginary friend, but I'm actually quite spooked by the alienness of this issue, and it would be interesting to see if there has been any research done comparing this phenomenon between countries. Demonwebb 00:23, 19 October 2007 (UTC)

Indeed. It would be interesting to know if imaginary friends are deemed acceptable for children outside of the USA, particularly in Canada. Maikel (talk) 10:44, 21 November 2007 (UTC)

As a Canadian I can confirm that imaginary friends are deemed acceptable here. I don't think our views of imaginary friends are any different than in America. --Marshmello 20:41, 21 November 2007 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Marshmello (talk • contribs)

Thanks, Marsh. Maikel (talk) 12:47, 22 November 2007 (UTC)

I agree wholeheartedly with the opening opinion - it pretty much describes word-by-word my feelings. One thing I would expect from this article would be an explanation as to why a statement (like, say:"Mommy, be careful, you nearly stepped on the tail of Spot, my invisible 10 meters tall pink dragon friend!"), which would back home at least raise a parent's eyebrow and start a small attack of panic for the welfare of the child, almost as a rule seems to be met with friendly, knowing smiles and mild amusement on American tv. Is it a tv thing? Or are imaginary friend really that commonplace in America (and Canada, apparently)? What exactly are the "views on imaginary friends" that a user above mentioned? Having imaginary friends is apparently not discouraged, but is it also encouraged? Etc etc... TomorrowTime (talk) 21:11, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

There are British accounts. I've added a link to a recount of a childhood experience from the early 20th century. Kulaguru (talk) 21:21, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] 'Frank the bunny' as an imaginary friend

Should 'Frank the bunny' from Donnie Darko be removed from the list? Donnie originally believes that Frank is an imaginary friend (as does his psychologist), but it is later revealed that Frank was a real (dead) person who was appearing to him as a sort of premonition so he could stop the world from ending. --Marshmello 20:18, 11 November 2007 (UTC)

No, I think what matters here is that the movie uses the concept of having an imaginary friend as a plot device. Maikel (talk) 12:51, 22 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Why in the USA and Canada?

What's missing from this article is how the concept of children having imaginary friends (and it being a normal childhood thing) came to be so popular in North America. It would be great if someone could provide information. Maikel (talk) 12:51, 22 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] A hallucination or just talking to what you can see is thin air?

I never had any sort of imaginary friend or some such. Do the children have actual hallucinations and see people John Nash style (but without the schizophrenia:-)) or do they just talk to thin air, where they can see that no one is there as much as an observer by simply find companionship in nothing? 86.134.12.18 (talk) 22:03, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

I have an imaginary friend, and I don't see her. I just pretend she's there. Even if I try, I can't see a hallucination of her, only pretend-see. I'm watchin' you,mon (talk) 03:34, 9 March 2008 (UTC)

When I talk to my imaginary friend (even when I was a little girl), I used my mind's eye. I saw her in my mind, but not with my eyes. 98.220.223.197 (talk) 21:33, 9 March 2008 (UTC)

honestly? I SAW him. as in, actually see him like everything else. he could touch stuff and move it around too, but when i'd look on a recording, it was me. fun eh? actually not at all and it worried me sick. nowadys I've learned not to worry. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.42.205.93 (talk) 17:38, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

As far as I know (from the perspective of someone who had and still has multiple imaginary people... I can't call them friends, they're more just inhabitants of my imaginary world), most people do not "see" imaginary friends. If they do, that probably signifies that they are hallucinating, which could be a symptom of something more serious than imaginary friendship! I never "saw" my imaginary friends- they were just that, imaginary. I invented them to occupy myself and for companionship, basically. Sometimes the imaginary world is far more interesting than the real one! Alinnisawest (talk) 19:17, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Imaginary occurances

I didn't have any imagineary friends when I was little, but I had some imaginary "experiences". For example, i clearly remember rays of bright colors shooting across the night sky, and two goats singing (in human voice) while grazing. There were other incidents too. I believed in these and remembered them just like actual memories until I was grown up enough to realize they couldn't possibly have happened actually. Is there any name (or an article) for such a phenomenon? Thanks. 124.30.235.62 (talk) 15:41, 18 April 2008 (UTC)