Imagine That
Transform How You Think, Feel, and Live with the Science of Imagination
-
- $20.99
Publisher Description
The director of the Center for Human Imagination at the University of California, San Diego, reveals her original research behind the science of imagination as the key to human flourishing and progress, showing you how to harness it to transform your life.
What if the most overlooked key to mental health, innovation, and human connection wasn’t a pill, a device, or a productivity hack—but your own imagination? In Imagine That, psychologist and imagination scientist Dr. Cassandra Vieten makes a radical claim: imagination is not just for artists and dreamers, it’s the operating system behind how all of us think, act, and live. And it exists within everyone.
Drawing on her original, cutting-edge neuroscientific research, Vieten introduces the concept of imagination neurodiversity: the idea that each of us has a unique set of strengths and tendencies that can be understood and activated. This book is your map to that inner world, and the key to unlocking new possibilities in every area of life.
Vieten’s research unpacks the neurological, cognitive, and social components of imagination, and uncovers how we can cultivate and apply it in our daily lives. Readers of this book will gain the ability to:
- Open their mind to new possibilities to help alleviate depression, anxiety, and other mental health struggles.
- Boost their workouts, sports, and physical training.
- Enrich relationships.
- Be more creative in work, school, hobbies, art, and music.
- Deepen spirituality or other existential explorations.
- Develop more joy and creative energy through a more colorful way of seeing and being.
This is the first book to offer a road map to determining your imagination strengths and how you can leverage them to invent, create, innovate, and lead a richer and more fulfilling life.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Imagination is not a childish indulgence but "the seed of every breakthrough, new solution, social movement, and invention, as well as every dream," according to this energetic blend of neuroscience, psychology, and self-help. Debut author Vieten, the director of research at the Center for Human Imagination at UC San Diego, argues that imagination, a "foundational capacity that allows us to simulate reality and transcend it to explore possibilities beyond the known," powers not only creativity but memory, planning, emotional regulation, physical health, and relationships. She unpacks how imagination can fuel problem-solving and the construction of meaning (in difficult times, it can allow one to find "meaning your suffering, empower you to keep going... and make your way through it with purpose"), and suggests ways for readers to understand and harness different "modes" of imagination. For instance, detail-oriented readers can improve their big-picture thinking by framing a complex problem "in the very broadest strokes you possibly can," and observing what's gained from using this "simpler approach." Vieten's tone is upbeat, and she enlivens the poceedings with references ranging from Aristotle to Pixar to virtual reality, though some readers may find the later material on topics like psychedelics and shamanism less persuasive. Still, it's an enlightening reminder of the value of thinking outside the box.
