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

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An inspirational manifesto, From What Is to What If offers a template for creating dramatic, positive change. There are also ways in which we can redesign our societies in such a way that more room and importance is given to our imagination. Hopkins highlights the important of more time for imagination in education, democracy and econ We know Transition groups are doing fantastic work responding to the challenges of climate crisis, social injustice and inequality. We also know that there are very real capacity and resource needs for doing this vital work, and even more so under the changing circumstances of Covid-19. Rob Hopkins asks the most important question that society has somehow forgotten - What If? Hopkins explores what we must do to revive and replenish our collective imagination. If we can rekindle that precious creative spark, whole societies and cultures can change - rapidly, dramatically and unexpectedly - for the better. There really is no end to what we might accomplish.

From What Is to What If (Audiobook) - Chelsea Green Publishing From What Is to What If (Audiobook) - Chelsea Green Publishing

In From What Is to What If, Rob Hopkins spotlights dozens of individuals and organizations around the world who are actually, defiantly doing work to make the world a friendlier, happier, more imaginative, playful, and sustainable place. Stress reduces the functioning of the hippocampus. A paradox: When we need our imagination most, to get us out of stressful situations, its full possibilities tend to elude us.People like Rob Hopkins give us the courage to move forward. By setting an example, he shows us that we are right to place our hopes in a future in which men and women can act as stewards of their environment. The many stories in this book are evidence of the fact that for some people this future has already become a reality. -Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris

From What Is to What If by Rob Hopkins | Waterstones From What Is to What If by Rob Hopkins | Waterstones

However, 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. 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. 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? Like art, PLAY can have many positive effects on our imagination. Hopkins stresses the importance of ‘’free play’’ on the imagination, where children can invent their own games, make their own rules and learn how to cooperate. Consequently, Hopkins is not very enthusiastic about commercial games, which are often repetitive and tend to dull the imagination. For children, free play often comes naturally. But what about play for adults? Hopkins gives a suggestion that he himself enjoyed: Take an improv class. I liked the description of the ‘Yes, and’ improv game, which requires each player to take the story further, by starting each new contribution to the story with ‘Yes, and’. The lessons of ‘Yes, and’ also have a deeper meaning outside of improv: ‘’ ‘Yes, and’ is fundamental to improvisation. In life, saying no allows us to remain safe, whereas learning to say yes means learning to trust other people and to be open to being changed by the other person’’ (p 29).

Summary

In our community, the kids seem to have radically different feelings about school than they did ten years ago. The education department’s decision to eliminate testing, to give ample space for unstructured play and to provide students with opportunities within the community to acquire meaningful skills that enable them to live happy and healthy lives by their own definition means that most kids here now love going to school. My son, for example, recently upped his cooking skills by spending a week at a local restaurant. The funding is part of the Transition: Bounce Forward project that started in September with four “What Is” webinars mapping out the wider context in which Transition activity is operating around climate reality, wellbeing and social justice. These went on to look at what Transition initiatives like yours are doing, and how Transition work is adapting during the global pandemic.

From What Is to What If – Chelsea Green Publishing

One might say that human societies have two boundaries. One boundary is drawn by the requirements of the natural world and the other by the collective imagination. Times of great change invite us to rethink where we are at and what might need to be transformed in our communities.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). In 2018, the average total electronic media consumption for US adults (TV, radio, gaming, online, smartphones) was 11 hours and 6 minutes per day (up from 9 hours a day in 2014). Based on a 2013 study at CalTech, 263 students (middle school through college) focused on a task for an average of six seconds before focusing on something else. In a 2016 study, half of all Americans reported they couldn't live without their smartphones. A 2016 survey by Common Sense media, 1/3 of American children age 12-18 felt addicted to their smartphones.