Imagination vs. Simulation / Experience <=> Imagination

Reading this week's piece, I was intrigued with several things.

1. How can we better/clearly understand the relationship between experience and imagination?
In this week's reading, the experience based on imagination and the imagination based on experience were both mentioned, which I believe would be possible to happen. In relation to the comparison of child vs. adult in terms of imagination, it makes sense to argue that the more experienced adults are better at imagination (assuming that imagination is rooted in experience). Intuitively, I thought children's imagination would be wider in range and novel in creativity aspects. However, the reverse relationship also sounds rational in that our imagination is not necessarily out of blue, but we can only think of what we have experienced, or what we have thought based on our lives up to now. 

Along the same line, my second question arises. 

2. How do we differentiate 'imagination' and 'simulation'? What would you say the core characteristics/elements of imagination to define it?

If I think about my future life like 10 years later, with my family- Would you say I am imagining or just simulating a certain situation/moment that future holds? Does imagination have to have some 'novelty' that we hardly think of in our daily lives? How about the concept of invention? Do you think invention was based on imagination? At a certain degree, isn't it that simulating how solving the current problem (or making something better) helped one to invent something new? Isn't it that those imaginative thoughts are heavily relying on our current experiences? 
How about novelists who write stories? Their direct and indirect experiences must have given them insights in thinking of storylines, coming up with ideas, etc., which I think have the elements of both imagination and simulation. It relates to the point in this reading that fantasy is not the opposite of memory. 




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