From What Is to What If: Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want

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Number of toys: 36 toddlers studied at the University of Toledo in Ohio, age 18-30 months. Kids were provided with 16 toys to play with on first visit but only four toys on their 2nd visit. When kids played with fewer toys, they spent more time with each toy. The quality of play and intensity of imagination was better with fewer toys, with kids being more focused with more sustained attention. Result: fewer toys equals better quality play.

From What Is to What If – Kosmos Journal From What Is to What If – Kosmos Journal

Reading this book is like listening to the voice of Rob Hopkins. A voice full of kindness, optimism, brightness, humor, and imagination. And that spirit is precisely what we need to build a better future and to reconnect with each other and the better part of ourselves. With this book, Rob poses a crucial question: How could we create another world, one in which human beings live in harmony with each other and with nature, if we are not able to imagine it first? We can't-and that's why this book is so necessary. -Cyril Dion, writer, filmmaker, and producer of the film Tomorrow At last, a design for our dreams. I believe we have a debt of honour to take action. Please read this book and defy the herd. Are we golden or are we debris?” —Mark Stewart, musician, The Pop Group and Mark Stewart & The Maffia Exactly the book I needed right now. It took me longer than I'd like to admit to realize that cynicism was just a tactic people used to shut down conversations when they didn't know the answer or when they didn't want to change their view of the world. This book uses extensive examples to show how people can and do improve their lives and their communities every day by not being afraid to dream and act and make change. Often these changes start small and grow into something bigger. But they can also start with mass movements and people taking democratic control of their cities. Rob Hopkins suggests that something similar to these biological processes in individual human beings happens to societies as a whole, asking: ‘’Might it be that the more deeply we are immersed in a crises and the more dystopian the future appears, the less able we are to imagine a way out?’’ (p 48). Are current generations living with low-level PTSD? Population struggling with trauma may be closer to 50%. Shouldn't we be measuring wealth by contentment rather than consumption? Milton Friedman wrote that only a crisis, actual or perceived, produces real change - but the actions taken depend on the results lying around, which means we need to be providing people with positive stories envisioning successful climate change adaptation and societal change. "We get so bogged down in staring straight into the abyss that we've lost our sight of heaven." The power of positive thinking - imagining the future and what it's like there - can affect behaviour and influences your decisions between now and the future. Functional imagery training should involve the future - like the Iroquois's 7 generations philosophy.

Episode Fifteen: What if we learned to love weeds?

It’s a great opportunity for your group to come together and really work through what is going on at present where you live. The process will help you to develop a shared vision for your community, as well as the areas/themes you would like to focus on during further community engagement. Reading this book is like listening to the voice of Rob Hopkins. A voice full of kindness, optimism, brightness, humor, and imagination. And that spirit is precisely what we need to build a better future and to reconnect with each other and the better part of ourselves. With this book, Rob poses a crucial question: How could we create another world, one in which human beings live in harmony with each other and with nature, if we are not able to imagine it first? We can’t—and that’s why this book is so necessary. CHRISTIANA FIGUERES, former executive secretary, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; lead negotiator, Paris Climate Agreement I call into work. I’m working a half day today, as part of my three-day work week. Adopted nationally ten years ago, the three-day work week, together with the introduction of Universal Basic Income, has resulted in measurably lower levels of anxiety and stress across all income classes. People spend free time working on community projects and enjoying their lives. Some of my colleagues are away today. A scheme was recently launched where up to 10 percent of staff from any company, at any given time, are embedded in the local community, offering managerial, marketing, financial planning and project management skills to organisations that are working in various ways to support residents and make our community more resilient.

The Book – Rob Hopkins

Of course, a HEALTHY LIFESTYLE (which makes a more healthy hippocampus more likely) is just one of many ways to increase our imagination. I love this book. It is an extraordinary, reality-based report on people around the world applying the power of imagination to rebuild relationships and create a fulfilling, creative, and possible human future together. An essential read for all who care.” —David C. Korten, author of Change the Story, Change the Future and When Corporations Rule the World Reading this book is like listening to the voice of Rob Hopkins. A voice full of kindness, optimism, brightness, humor, and imagination. And that spirit is precisely what we need to build a better future and to reconnect with each other and the better part of ourselves. With this book, Rob poses a crucial question: How could we create another world, one in which human beings live in harmony with each other and with nature, if we are not able to imagine it first? We can’t—and that’s why this book is so necessary.” —Cyril Dion, writer, filmmaker, and producer of the film TomorrowHowever, we can’t always fully access our power of imagination, especially when we need it most, for instance when we face our biggest problems or when are going through the hardest times. One of the reasons for this is that a part of our brain called the hippocampus plays an important role in how our imagination works. Using a mix of examples, suggestions and explanations, Rob Hopkins shows how can we foster and increase our imagination. Along the way, he shows how imagination can play a role to reconnect with each other and strengthen our communities. The founder of the international Transition Towns movement asks why true creative, positive thinking is in decline, asserts that it’s more important now than ever, and suggests ways our communities can revive and reclaim it. Day after day, week after week, the climate is changing and biodiversity is fading away. For a long time we tended to look the other way, but now, being on the edge of the cliff forces us to understand that we must act urgently. And because of this emergency it is our utmost duty to join forces. Not only among states, but among mayors, NGOs, associations, companies, and citizens. Among all those who are determined to act here and now.