Imagine That: Unlocking the Science of Imagination to Transform the Way You Think, Feel, and Live

The Director of Research at 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.

Cassandra Vieten, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist, clinical professor in the department of family medicine, and director of research at the Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination at the University of California, San Diego. She also directs the Center for Mindfulness at UC San Diego and serves as clinical psychology director at the Center for Psychedelic Research. She is senior advisor at the John W. Brick Mental Health Foundation and a senior fellow at the Institute of Noetic Sciences. Her research has focused on imagination, spirituality and health, transformative experiences and practices, the development of mindfulness-based interventions for emotional well-being, and development of media technologies to inspire awe. She has authored three books, is a three-time TEDx speaker, has published numerous articles in scientific journals, and is an internationally recognized keynote speaker and workshop leader.