Born to Play Games - a talk by Jane McGonigal about human destiny circa 2020 AD

Born to Play Games

— a talk about our human

destiny, circa 2020 AD

Jane McGonigal, PhDDirector of Game Research & Development

Institute for the FutureAugust 2010

Game designer nominated for Nobel Peace Prize by

2023

Do games bring

out the best in us?

Are games a

gateway to real-

life goals?

Do games change

who we think we

really are?

Are games

protecting us from

real harm?

Can games give us

real-life

superpowers?

YES.• Games do bring out the best in us.• Games are a gateway to real-life

goals.• Games do change who we think we

really are.• Games are protecting us from real

harm.• Games can give us actual

superpowers.

YES.• Games do bring out the best in us.• Games are a gateway to real-life

goals.• Games do change who we think we

really are.• Games are protecting us from real

harm.• Games can give us actual

superpowers.

Games activate 10 powerful positive emotions.

10. Joy 9. Relief 8. Love (really!) 7. Surprise 6. Pride

5. Curiosity

4. Excitement

3. Awe & Wonder

2. Contentment

1. Creativity

Being happy makes us successful – and not the other way around.

• Better grades in school• More popularity, social support• Higher achievements in personal goals• More raises and promotions at work• Longer, more satisfying marriages

We can change our lives by achieving “ The 3:1 ratio” .

Scientists have calculated a “tipping point” for exactly how much positive emotion is required to unlock the conditions for success:

It’s 3 positive emotions for every 1 negative

emotion you feel.

Positive emotions make us

super-resilient. People with a positivity ratio of 3:1 or

higher not only are happier and more successful – they live 10 years longer.

Emotions are contagious –

both positive and negative.

  Every time you feel an emotion, scientists have discovered, it spreads on average to 6 other people you know: friends, family members, neighbors or co-workers. Then it spreads to 36 people they know; and then on to 216 people they know.

The old story is that anything that feels good is merely a distraction—trivial, inconsequential, and therefore expendable. The new story—backed by science—is that these same good feelings, cultivated through natural and ordinary means, are the active ingredients needed to produce an upward spiral toward flourishing. Whereas the old story leaves people feeling guilty when they ‘take time’ for something that makes them feel good, the new story can give people the courage to cultivate their best possible lives.

 —Barbara Frederickson, PhD in Positivity

1994: We start playing Warcraft

Are we on the threshold

of our ownepic game?

90 million Farmville players

1 in every 75 people on the planet is currently playing FarmVille

1 in 200 logs in on any given day to manage and grow their virtual farm.

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Watch Groundcrew Demo

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Demo the game site

www.urgentevoke.com

Game designer nominated for Nobel Peace Prize by

2023

FOR THOUSANDS OF

YEARS, GAMES HAVE

MADE US WHO WE ARE:

HUMAN .

FOR THOUSANDS OF

YEARS, GAMES HAVE

MADE US WHO WE ARE:

HUMAN .

TODAY’S GAMES MAKE US

THE BEST VERSION OF

OURSELVES:

SUPERHUMANS.

- S U PER EMPOWERED

HUMAN S .

Games give us something to do when

there is nothing to do. We thus call games ‘pastimes’ and regard them as trifling fillers of the interstices of our lives. But they are much more important than that. They are clues to the future. And their serious cultivation now is perhaps our only salvation.

—Bernard Suits, philosopher  

worldchangin

g

worldchangin

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www.gameful.org