{"id":64408,"date":"2022-04-07T17:06:30","date_gmt":"2022-04-07T21:06:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=64408"},"modified":"2022-04-15T17:18:55","modified_gmt":"2022-04-15T21:18:55","slug":"imagining-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/imagining-the-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Imagining the Future: Why It Increases Happiness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Why does imagining the future increase happiness? Why do fabrications of the future tend to look more positive than the past or present?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his book Stumbling on Happiness, <\/em>social psychologist Daniel Gilbert explores how and why your brain attempts to fabricate the future. He also discusses the limitations the brain encounters while trying to do so and how it overcomes them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s how and why your brain imagines the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Fabricating the Future<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Because your imagination is the faculty most relevant to Gilbert\u2019s overarching argument that you make poor choices<\/a> about the future based on bad information, we\u2019ll spend time first explaining why<\/em> and how<\/em> you imagine the future in the first place. We\u2019ll then move on to the types<\/em> of fabrications your mind makes about the future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You Imagine the Future Because Doing So Makes You Happy<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Gilbert writes that humans\u2019 most basic desire in life is to be happy and that every action we take is in service of achieving happiness. Imagining the future is one important way for us to increase our happiness<\/strong>. We can define \u201cimagining the future\u201d as thinking about future scenarios and who we might be in the future, as well as planning for both, explains Gilbert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: It\u2019s easy to confuse the concept of \u201cimagining\u201d as Gilbert describes it with the idea of \u201cfantasizing\u201d or \u201cdaydreaming.\u201d But whereas imagining the future is functional and goal-oriented, we fantasize and daydream for entertainment, distraction, or sexual arousal<\/a>. Nonetheless, even fantasies and daydreams can be a way to maximize happiness<\/a>: Children who daydream tend to be more creative<\/a>, and adults who daydream tend to be more productive<\/a>. Both creativity and productivity, in turn, can make you happier.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imagining the future increases your happiness for two reasons: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reason #1: Imagining the Future Is Pleasurable in Itself<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019re more likely to imagine good futures than bad ones, writes Gilbert, and this makes the act of imagining pleasurable. Often, just imagining something is more enjoyable than it occurring. For instance, you\u2019ve undoubtedly spent many pleasant hours thinking about an upcoming weekend or party only for the event to not live up to expectations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Gilbert claims that you\u2019re more likely to envision positive future events than negative ones, which makes thinking about the future inherently enjoyable. But even imagining negative<\/em> future events doesn\u2019t necessarily make you unhappy. This is because you can come up with compelling explanations for why those negative events won\u2019t<\/em> occur<\/a>. Therefore, no matter what you envision, the act of imagining can be pleasurable.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reason #2: Imagining the Future Gives You a Sense of Control Over Your Life<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

According to Gilbert, a second, arguably more influential reason why imagining the future maximizes your happiness is that it convinces you that you can take action to <\/strong>change<\/em><\/strong> the future. That sense of agency<\/a> makes you happy<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, if you imagine that in the future, your kids will want to go to college, you can exert control over the future by starting to save money for their college funds<\/a> now. This feeling of preparedness and power makes you happier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: The idea that you can gain control of your life by thinking about the future also appears in Grant Cardone\u2019s The 10X Rule<\/em><\/a>. There, though, Cardone advocates for thinking about the future and taking action to bring about desired outcomes not as a means of becoming happier, but as a means of becoming more successful. He recommends that to be maximally successful, you set ambitious goals<\/a> for the future and take full responsibility for and control of your life to accomplish them.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The feeling that you have control over your life is not only happiness-maximizing but also critical to your well-being and mental health, adds Gilbert. We need to feel that we have agency; otherwise, we become depressed or despondent. Gilbert adds that this control can simply be imagined: To be happy, we don\u2019t have to be<\/em> in control\u2014we just need to believe<\/em> we are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Gilbert presents the feeling of being in control as wholly positive and critical for well-being. However, in some cases, that feeling can lead to negative outcomes, like when people believe they have more control<\/em> than they really do. When people perceive themselves to have unrealistically high degrees of control over their lives<\/a>, they suffer from what\u2019s called an illusion<\/em> of control. This can cause irrational behavior like magical thinking\u2014believing you can catalyze events by willing<\/em> them to happen, rather than taking concrete action.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mechanics of Imagining: You Use Existing Images, Experiences, and Memories<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve just described why you envision the future: because doing so makes you happy. We\u2019ll now describe the basic mechanics of how <\/em>you imagine things and events. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gilbert says that you imagine things and events using images, experiences, and memories <\/strong>already<\/em><\/strong> stored in your brain. <\/strong>For instance, when prompted to imagine a werewolf, your brain summons images of werewolves you\u2019ve seen in movies. Your brain must <\/em>use existing references to imagine things, emphasizes Gilbert: Without an existing reference, your brain can\u2019t imagine something. This is why, if someone asks you to imagine a \u201csneedle,\u201d you can\u2019t do it because you have no stored images of a sneedle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: In the same way it\u2019s impossible for us to imagine something we have no prior reference for, as Gilbert argues, it\u2019s often impossible for writers of sci-fi works to imagine facets of the future for which there are no current references. For example, the 1991 film Until the End of the World<\/em>, predicted that we\u2019d be using video-pay phones<\/a> in 1999. At the time of the movie\u2019s making, the scriptwriter perhaps could not conceive of a personal<\/em> mobile device that made video calls.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your Mind Fabricates Your Vision of the Future<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Now that we\u2019ve explained why you imagine the future and the basic mechanics of imagining, let\u2019s turn to the three ways<\/a> your brain fabricates your vision of the future<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fabrication #1: You Create an Image of the Future Using Existing References<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Gilbert writes that you fabricate visions of the future that reflect events and experiences <\/strong>you\u2019ve already been through, <\/em><\/strong>rather than new events and experiences yet to come<\/strong>. This is because, as described above, when you imagine future scenarios, your brain uses existing<\/em> references\u2014your current experiences and memories. The result, concludes Gilbert, is that your visions of the future don\u2019t reflect what the future will be like. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s see this in action: You discover you\u2019ve won a prize at work, which your supervisor calls \u201camazing office swag.\u201d You\u2019ll receive this prize at the end of the day. You spend the rest of the day imagining what the prize will be, and you can only use your existing images or memories of \u201coffice swag\u201d to do this. Perhaps in the past, you received a new cell phone as office swag, or you remember that your friend once won a car from her company. You therefore imagine that at the end of the day, you\u2019ll receive a new cell phone and a car. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, when the time comes, you only receive a mouse pad and a t-shirt. In this way, you\u2019ve fabricated a vision of the future based only on existing images and memories, and this fabricated vision of the future ends up being incorrect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Upside of Using Existing References<\/strong>

Here, Gilbert presents using past experiences as references when predicting the future<\/a> as wholly unhelpful, as this process often leads you to fabricate improbable future scenarios. This begs the question: Can using past experiences as references ever<\/em> be helpful? 

In Thinking in Bets<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>Annie Duke suggests that this process can<\/em> be helpful when making decisions in the present<\/em>. She calls the act of thinking about past experiences (and imagining future scenarios) \u201cmental time travel<\/a>\u201d and argues that this process helps you make more rational decisions. According to Duke, mental time travel<\/a> forces you to use the deliberative part of your brain, which takes into account all possible information when making a choice. This includes helpful information about the past that you can use as a reference for good present decisions. 

For instance, imagine you\u2019re deciding whether or not to eat a fifth cookie. You use mental time travel<\/a> to reflect on past scenarios when you ate five cookies in quick succession and remember that doing so made you feel unwell. You use this past experience as a reference for a positive present decision: You decide not<\/em> to eat the cookie and consequently avoid nausea.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Fabrication #2: You Omit Unpleasant Information From Your Vision of the Future<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The second way<\/a> your mind fabricates your view of the future is by omitting available yet unpleasant information from your predictions<\/strong>, writes Gilbert\u2014particularly unpleasant information that questions the version of the future that you want<\/em> to play out or believe<\/em> will play out. Your mind does this because, as we saw in Part 2.2 when discussing interpreting the present, it prefers to consume information that supports your existing beliefs and ignore information that doesn\u2019t. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This inclination to ignore undesirable information means you might create an image of the future that\u2019s unrealistically positive. Here\u2019s an example: You\u2019re deciding between buying a gorgeous Victorian home that needs a lot of work and a newer yet less charming home. You know\u2014perhaps even from previous experience\u2014that the Victorian will have structural problems due to its age and be expensive to repair. But because you love the idea of living in a beautiful old home, you omit these shortcomings from your vision of your life in the Victorian home and buy it anyway. Once you\u2019ve bought it, though, you\u2019ll be unhappy with the amount and cost of repairs required. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Gilbert suggests we omit disadvantageous information from our vision of the future because we don\u2019t like to consider details that challenge our beliefs. But there might be an additional explanation for this tendency to leave out critical details: Our brains can only process a finite amount of information at a time<\/a>. This means that in situations in which there\u2019s a lot of information to consider\u2014which house to buy, for instance\u2014we simply can\u2019t process it all. Our brains may then prioritize the advantageous information over the disadvantageous information, because, as Gilbert writes, it\u2019s more appealing.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fabrication #3: You Think the Distant Future Appears Clearly to You<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The final way you fabricate the future relates to the distant <\/em>future, asserts Gilbert: You fabricate your view of distant future events by confusing a vague image of the distant future for what will <\/strong>actually <\/em><\/strong>happen in the distant future<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s how this happens, according to Gilbert: You can\u2019t predict the distant future well because there are too many unknowns. Therefore, when you try to imagine events in your life, say, 10 years from now, you can only create a vague picture of them. You might imagine yourself owning a house and being promoted but be unable to get more specific than that. However, continues Gilbert, you don\u2019t realize<\/em> that your image of the future is vague, and you believe this is exactly what your future will<\/em> look like. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using a Cultural Life Script to Envision the Distant Future<\/strong>

Gilbert argues that we mistakenly think a vague vision of the distant future is an accurate and detailed depiction of what the future will be like. But what do we base our vague visions of the distant future on in the first place? Gilbert doesn\u2019t say, but we may rely on what\u2019s called a cultural life script: the usual series of events that someone follows over their lifetime<\/a> in a given culture. Cultural life scripts differ across the world and may involve milestones like graduating from college, getting married, and starting a family. 

Beyond influencing how you think about the distant future, cultural life scripts even impact how you remember your past. Research suggests that you\u2019re more likely to recall life events contained within your cultural life script<\/a>. This means that you more vividly remember your twenties and thirties because these decades contain many seminal life script events: graduating from college, getting your first job, finding a spouse, starting a family, and so on.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why does imagining the future increase happiness? Why do fabrications of the future tend to look more positive than the past or present? In his book Stumbling on Happiness, social psychologist Daniel Gilbert explores how and why your brain attempts to fabricate the future. He also discusses the limitations the brain encounters while trying to do so and how it overcomes them. Here’s how and why your brain imagines the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":64616,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,9,43],"tags":[605],"class_list":["post-64408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","category-psychology","category-self-improvement","tag-stumbling-on-happiness","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nImagining the Future: Why It Increases Happiness - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Imagining the future is a way to increase happiness and hope. Here's the psychology behind how and why the brain fabricates the future.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/imagining-the-future\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Imagining the Future: Why It Increases Happiness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Imagining the future is a way to increase happiness and hope. Here's the psychology behind how and why the brain fabricates the future.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/imagining-the-future\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-04-07T21:06:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-04-15T21:18:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/daydream.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1273\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"787\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hannah Aster\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Hannah Aster\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/imagining-the-future\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/imagining-the-future\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Hannah Aster\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f39f52830e4f7039a16e45d12354542f\"},\"headline\":\"Imagining the Future: Why It Increases Happiness\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-04-07T21:06:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-04-15T21:18:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/imagining-the-future\/\"},\"wordCount\":2086,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/imagining-the-future\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/daydream.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Stumbling on Happiness\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Lifestyle\",\"Psychology\",\"Self-Improvement\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/imagining-the-future\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/imagining-the-future\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/imagining-the-future\/\",\"name\":\"Imagining the Future: Why It Increases Happiness - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/imagining-the-future\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/imagining-the-future\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/daydream.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-04-07T21:06:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-04-15T21:18:55+00:00\",\"description\":\"Imagining the future is a way to increase happiness and hope. Here's the psychology behind how and why the brain fabricates the future.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/imagining-the-future\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/imagining-the-future\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/imagining-the-future\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/daydream.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/daydream.jpg\",\"width\":1273,\"height\":787},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/imagining-the-future\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Imagining the Future: Why It Increases Happiness\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World's Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f39f52830e4f7039a16e45d12354542f\",\"name\":\"Hannah Aster\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0302cb2690b70a21639bc6873e587f42d39d02385b7e59d8efd0d3e000ae7681?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0302cb2690b70a21639bc6873e587f42d39d02385b7e59d8efd0d3e000ae7681?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Hannah Aster\"},\"description\":\"Hannah is a seasoned writer and editor who started her journey with Shortform nearly five years ago. She grew up reading mostly fiction books but transitioned to non-fiction writing when she started her travel website in 2018. When she's not writing or traveling, you can find Hannah working on home reno projects, crafting, or taking care of plants.\",\"knowsAbout\":[\"Graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in English and minors in professional and creative writing\"],\"jobTitle\":\"SEO Team Lead\",\"worksFor\":\"Shortform\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/hannah\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Imagining the Future: Why It Increases Happiness - Shortform Books","description":"Imagining the future is a way to increase happiness and hope. Here's the psychology behind how and why the brain fabricates the future.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/imagining-the-future\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Imagining the Future: Why It Increases Happiness","og_description":"Imagining the future is a way to increase happiness and hope. Here's the psychology behind how and why the brain fabricates the future.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/imagining-the-future\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2022-04-07T21:06:30+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-04-15T21:18:55+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1273,"height":787,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/daydream.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Hannah Aster","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Hannah Aster","Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/imagining-the-future\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/imagining-the-future\/"},"author":{"name":"Hannah Aster","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f39f52830e4f7039a16e45d12354542f"},"headline":"Imagining the Future: Why It Increases Happiness","datePublished":"2022-04-07T21:06:30+00:00","dateModified":"2022-04-15T21:18:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/imagining-the-future\/"},"wordCount":2086,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/imagining-the-future\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/daydream.jpg","keywords":["Stumbling on Happiness"],"articleSection":["Lifestyle","Psychology","Self-Improvement"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/imagining-the-future\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/imagining-the-future\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/imagining-the-future\/","name":"Imagining the Future: Why It Increases Happiness - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/imagining-the-future\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/imagining-the-future\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/daydream.jpg","datePublished":"2022-04-07T21:06:30+00:00","dateModified":"2022-04-15T21:18:55+00:00","description":"Imagining the future is a way to increase happiness and hope. Here's the psychology behind how and why the brain fabricates the future.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/imagining-the-future\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/imagining-the-future\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/imagining-the-future\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/daydream.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/daydream.jpg","width":1273,"height":787},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/imagining-the-future\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Imagining the Future: Why It Increases Happiness"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World's Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f39f52830e4f7039a16e45d12354542f","name":"Hannah Aster","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0302cb2690b70a21639bc6873e587f42d39d02385b7e59d8efd0d3e000ae7681?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0302cb2690b70a21639bc6873e587f42d39d02385b7e59d8efd0d3e000ae7681?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Hannah Aster"},"description":"Hannah is a seasoned writer and editor who started her journey with Shortform nearly five years ago. She grew up reading mostly fiction books but transitioned to non-fiction writing when she started her travel website in 2018. When she's not writing or traveling, you can find Hannah working on home reno projects, crafting, or taking care of plants.","knowsAbout":["Graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in English and minors in professional and creative writing"],"jobTitle":"SEO Team Lead","worksFor":"Shortform","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/hannah\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/daydream.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64408"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64408\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64719,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64408\/revisions\/64719"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}