Religion
In reply to the discussion: People Are Born with Religious Belief Argues New Book [View all]happyslug
(14,779 posts)If you adopt a test that to be "real" it must be something you can touch and feel (or otherwise directly observe) then these imaginary friends are NOT real, but if you trying to see HOW someone thinks and reacts to others then they are real, in the sense it is a factor in how that person deals with the world.
To dismiss these concepts as NOT REAL, is to leave them sit they on the side of the road till they bite you in the ass. Psychologist (The author of the book we are commenting on is a noted Psychologist) see this in their profession all the time, as do social scientists (as a Lawyer, I have seen it in my clients and I have had to accept these concepts as real, in the sense I have to deal with them).
Thus when studies one deal with people these unobservable concepts (including imagery friends) are as real as anything you can touch and feel. Among Social Scientist and Psychologists such concepts must be dealt with, not dismissed with disdain and thus are REAL in the sense it has to be addressed.