Gaming can make a better world.docx

Gaming can make a better world.docx

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Gamingcanmakeabetterworld

Gamingcanmakeabetterworld

JaneMcGonigal

I'mJaneMcGonigal.I'magamedesigner.I'vebeenmakinggamesonlinenowfor10years,andmygoalforthenextdecadeistotrytomakeitaseasytosavetheworldinreallifeasitistosavetheworldinonlinegames.Now,Ihaveaplanforthis,anditentailsconvincingmorepeople,includingallofyou,tospendmoretimeplayingbiggerandbettergames.

Rightnowwespendthreebillionhoursaweekplayingonlinegames.Someofyoumightbethinking,"That'salotoftimetospendplayinggames.Maybetoomuchtime,consideringhowmanyurgentproblemswehavetosolveintherealworld."Butactually,accordingtomyresearchatTheInstituteForTheFuture,it'sactuallytheoppositeistrue.Threebillionhoursaweekisnotnearlyenoughgameplaytosolvetheworld'smosturgentproblems.

Infact,Ibelievethatifwewanttosurvivethenextcenturyonthisplanet,weneedtoincreasethattotaldramatically.I'vecalculatedthetotalweneedat21billionhoursofgameplayeveryweek.So,that'sprobablyabitofacounterintuitiveidea,soI'llsayitagain,letitsinkin:

Ifwewanttosolveproblemslikehunger,poverty,climatechange,globalconflict,obesity,Ibelievethatweneedtoaspiretoplaygamesonlineforatleast21billionhoursaweek,bytheendofthenextdecade.（Laughter）No.I'mserious.Iam.

Here'swhy.ThispictureprettymuchsumsupwhyIthinkgamesaresoessentialtothefuturesurvivalofthehumanspecies.（Laughter）Truly.ThisisaportraitbyaphotographernamedPhilToledano.Hewantedtocapturetheemotionofgaming,sohesetupacamerainfrontofgamerswhiletheywereplaying.Andthisisaclassicgamingemotion.Now,ifyou'renotagamer,youmightmisssomeofthenuanceinthisphoto.Youprobablyseethesenseofurgency,alittlebitoffear,butintenseconcentration,deep,deepfocusontacklingareallydifficultproblem.

Ifyouareagamer,youwillnoticeafewnuanceshere:

thecrinkleoftheeyesup,andaroundthemouthisasignofoptimism,andtheeyebrowsupissurprise.Thisisagamerwhoisonthevergeofsomethingcalledanepicwin.（Laughter）Oh,you'veheardofthat.OK,good,sowehavesomegamersamongus.Anepicwinisanoutcomethatissoextraordinarilypositiveyouhadnoideaitwasevenpossibleuntilyouachievedit.Itwasalmostbeyondthethresholdofimagination.Andwhenyougetthereyouareshockedtodiscoverwhatyouaretrulycapableof.Thatisanepicwin.Thisisagameronthevergeofanepicwin.Andthisisthefacethatweneedtoseeonmillionsofproblem-solversallovertheworldaswetrytotackletheobstaclesofthenextcentury--thefaceofsomeonewho,againstalloddsisonthevergeofanepicwin.

Now,unfortunatelythisismoreofthefacethatweseeineverydaylifenowaswetrytotackleurgentproblems.ThisiswhatIcallthe"I'mNotGoodAtLife"face,andthisisactuallymemakingit.Canyousee?

Yes.Good.Thisisactuallymemakingthe"I'mNotGoodAtLife"face.ThisisapieceofgraffitiinmyoldneighborhoodinBerkeley,California,whereIdidmyPhDonwhywe'rebetteringamesthanweareinreallife.Andthisisaproblemthatalotofgamershave.Wefeelthatwearenotasgoodinrealityasweareingames.

AndIdon'tmeanjustgoodasinsuccessful,althoughthat'spartofit.Wedoachievemoreingameworlds.ButIalsomeangoodasinmotivatedtodosomethingthatmatters,inspiredtocollaborateandtocooperate.Andwhenwe'reingameworldsIbelievethatmanyofusbecomethebestversionofourselves,themostlikelytohelpatamoment'snotice,themostlikelytostickwithaproblemaslongatittakes,togetupafterfailureandtryagain.Andinreallife,whenwefacefailure,whenweconfrontobstacles,weoftendon'tfeelthatway.Wefeelovercome,wefeeloverwhelmed,wefeelanxious,maybedepressed,frustratedorcynical.Weneverhavethosefeelingswhenwe'replayinggames,theyjustdon'texistingames.So,that'swhatIwantedtostudywhenIwasagraduatestudent.

Whataboutgamesmakesitimpossibletofeelthatwecan'tachieveeverything?

Howcanwetakethosefeelingsfromgamesandapplythemtoreal-worldwork?

So,IlookedatgameslikeWorldofWarcraft,whichisreallytheidealcollaborativeproblem-solvingenvironment.AndIstartedtonoticeafewthingsthatmakeepicwinssopossibleinonlineworlds.

So,thefirstthingiswheneveryoushowupinoneoftheseonlinegames,especiallyinWorldofWarcraft,therearelotsandlotsofdifferentcharacterswhoarewillingtotrustyouwithaworld-savingmission,rightaway.Butnotjustanymission,it'samissionthatisperfectlymatchedwithyourcurrentlevelinthegame.Right?

So,youcandoit.Theynevergiveyouachallengethatyoucan'tachieve.Butitisonthevergeofwhatyou'recapableof.So,youhavetotryhard,butthere'snounemploymentinWorldofWarcraft.Thereisnosittingaroundwringingyourhands,there'salwayssomethingspecificandimportanttobedone.Andtherearealsotonsofcollaborators.Everywhereyougo,hundredsofthousandsofpeoplereadytoworkwithyoutoachieveyourepicmission.

That'snotsomethingthatwehaveinreallifethateasily,thissensethatatourfingertipsaretonsofcollaborators.Andalsothereisthisepicstory,thisinspiringstoryofwhywe'rethere,andwhatwe'redoing.Andthenwegetallthispositivefeedback.Youguyshaveheardoflevelingupandplus-onestrength,andplus-oneintelligence.Wedon'tgetthatkindofconstantfeedbackinreallife.WhenIgetoffthisstageI'mnotgoingtohaveplus-onespeaking,andplus-onecrazyidea,plus-20crazyidea.Idon'tgetthatfeedbackinreallife.

Now,theproblemwithcollaborativeonlineenvironmentslikeWorldofWarcraftisthatit'ssosatisfyingtobeonthevergeofanepicwinallthetimethatwedecidetospendallourtimeinthesegameworlds.It'sjustbetterthanreality.So,sofar,collectivelyalltheWorldofWarcraftgamershavespent5.93millionyearssolvingthevirtualproblemsofAzeroth.Now,that'snotnecessarilyabadthing.Itmightsoundlikeit'sabadthing.Buttoputthatincontext:

5.93millionyearsagowaswhenourearliestprimatehumanancestorsstoodup.Thatwasthefirstuprightprimate.

Okay,sowhenwetalkabouthowmuchtimewe'recurrentlyinvestinginplayinggames,theonlywayitmakessensetoeventhinkaboutitistotalkabouttimeatthemagnitudeofhumanevolution,whichisanextraordinarything.Butit'salsoapt.Becauseitturnsoutthatbyspendingallthistimeplayinggames,we'reactuallychangingwhatwearecapableofashumanbeings.Weareevolvingtobeamorecollaborativeandheartyspecies.Thisistrue.Ibelievethis.

So,considerthisreallyinterestingstatistic;itwasrecentlypublishedbyaresearcheratCarnegieMellonUniversity:

Theaverageyoungpersontodayinacountrywithastronggamerculturewillhavespent10,000hoursplayingonlinegamesbytheageof21.Now10,000hoursisareallyinterestingnumberfortworeasons.Firstofall,forchildrenintheUnitedStates10,080hoursistheexactamountoftimeyouwillspendinschoolfromfifthgradetohighschoolgraduationifyouhaveperfectattendance.

So,wehaveanentireparalleltrackofeducationgoingonwhereyoungpeoplearelearningasmuchaboutwhatittakestobeagoodgamerastheyarelearningabouteverythingelseinschool.AndsomeofyouhaveprobablyreadMalcolmGladwell'snewbook"Outliers."So,youwouldhaveheardofhistheoryofsuccess,the10,000hourtheoryofsuccess.It'sbasedonthisgreatcognitivescienceresearchthatifwecanmaster10,000hoursofeffortfulstudyatanythingbytheageof21,wewillbevirtuososatit.Wewillbeasgoodatwhateverwedoasthegreatestpeopleintheworld.Andso,nowwhatwe'relookingatisanentiregenerationofyoungpeoplewhoarevirtuosogamers.

So,thebigquestionis,"Whatexactlyaregamersgettingsogoodat?

"Becauseifwecouldfigurethatout,wewouldhaveavirtuallyunprecedentedhumanresourceonourhands.Thisishowmanypeoplewenowhaveintheworldwhospendatleastanhouradayplayingonlinegames.Theseareourvirtuosogamers,500millionpeoplewhoareextraordinarilygoodatsomething.Andinthenextdecadewe'regoingtohaveanotherbilliongamerswhoareextraordinarilygoodatwhateverthatis.Ifyoudon'tknowitalready,thisiscoming.ThegameindustryisdevelopingconsolesthatarelowenergyandthatworkwiththewirelessphonenetworksinsteadofbroadbandInternetsothatgamersallovertheworld,particularlyinIndia,China,Brazil,cangetonline.Theyexpectonebillionmoregamersinthenextdecade.Itwillbringusupto1.5billiongamers.

So,I'vestartedtothinkaboutwhatthesegamesaremakingusvirtuososat.HerearethefourthingsIcameupwith.Thefirstisurgentoptimism.OK,thinkofthisasextremeself-motivation.Urgentoptimismisthedesiretoactimmediatelytotackleanobstacle,combinedwiththebeliefthatwehaveareasonablehopeofsuccess.Gamersalwaysbelievethatanepicwinispossible,andthatitisalwaysworthtrying,andtryingnow.Gamersdon'tsitaround.Gamersarevirtuososatweavingatightsocialfabric.There'salotofinterestingresearchthatshowsthatwelikepeoplebetterafterweplayagamewiththem,evenifthey'vebeatenusbadly.Andthereasonis,ittakesalotoftrusttoplayagamewithsomeone.Wetrustthattheywillspendtheirtimewithus,thattheywillplaybythesamerules,valuethesamegoal,they'llstaywiththegameuntilit'sover.

Andso,playingagametogetheractuallybuildsupbon