National Network for Equitable Library Service

A world-renowned future forecaster and game designer teaches us to envision the future before it arrives--and gives us the tools to help shape the world we want to live in. The COVID-19 pandemic, one of the most disruptive events in human history, has made it more challenging than ever to feel prepared, hopeful, and equipped to face the future with optimism. How do we map out our lives when it feels impossible to predict what the world will be like next week, let alone next year or next decade? What we need now are strategies to help us recover our confidence and creativity in facing uncertain futures. In Imaginable, Jane McGonigal draws on the latest scientific research in psychology and neuroscience to show us how to train our minds to think the unthinkable and imagine the unimaginable. She invites us to play with the provocative thought experiments and future simulations she's designed exclusively for this book, with the goal to: · build our collective imagination so that we can dive into the future and envision, in surprising detail, what our lives will look like ten years from now · develop the courage and vision to solve problems creatively · take actions and make decisions that will help shape the future we desire · access "urgent optimism," an unstoppable force within each of us that activates our sense of agency Imaginable teaches us to be fearless, resilient, and bold in realizing a world with possibilities we cannot yet imagine--until reading this transformative, inspiring, and necessary book. Advanced Praise for Imaginable: "With Imaginable, Jane McGonigal has pulled off a rare and essential feat: she's written a book filled with inspiring ideas about how the future might play out, that also provides immediate, practical tools to help you think more creatively about how you can change that future yourself." - Steven Johnson, author of Where Good Ideas Come From and Farsighted "Jane McGonigal's Imaginable is a delightful and actionable antidote to apocalypse: an invitation to play with the future as if it were limited by nothing but our own imaginative capacity. An inspiring read. - Douglas Rushkoff, author of Present Shock and Team Human "Imaginable is more than a book, it's a mindset upgrade. It teaches you to think more creatively and optimistically about what's next. Imaginable gets you excited about the future, rather than fearful of it. After you read this book, your brain will be on fire with new possibilities. And you'll never call anything "unimaginable" or "unthinkable" again." - Peter H. Diamandis, MD, Founder, XPRIZE, Singularity University. NYTimes Best Selling Author of Abundance, BOLD and Future is Faster Than You Think "Jane McGonigal's Imaginable is one of those rare and thrilling books that actually changes you. It translates scientific insights into psychological breakthroughs, giving you a new set of tools to feel more hopeful, more creative, more awake to your dreams for the future. It empowers you with what McGonigal calls a sense of "urgent optimism". It will help you transcend the present moment to realize your full potential and make a future that's better for all."- Scott Barry Kaufman, author of Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization and Wired to Create