Gaming can make a better world | Jane McGonigal

TED・18 minutes read

Jane McGonigal believes that increasing gameplay to 21 billion hours per week could help solve urgent global issues by harnessing gamers' focus and optimism. She advocates for making real-world tasks more like games to leverage the problem-solving potential of gamers, citing historical examples of games aiding communities during crises.

Insights

  • Increasing game play to 21 billion hours per week is proposed by Jane McGonigal to address global issues like hunger, poverty, and climate change, leveraging gamers' focus, optimism, and drive for "epic wins" for real-world problem-solving.
  • Historical examples, such as King of Lydia introducing dice games during a famine, demonstrate the potential of gamification in real-world problem-solving, inspiring initiatives like games by the World Bank Institute to certify players as Social Innovators and encourage social enterprise development.

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Recent questions

  • How does Jane McGonigal propose solving global issues?

    By increasing game play to 21 billion hours weekly.

  • What traits do gamers exhibit while playing games?

    Intense focus, optimism, and drive for "epic wins".

  • What historical example does Jane McGonigal draw inspiration from?

    King of Lydia introducing dice games during a famine.

  • What skills do gamers develop through gameplay?

    Urgent optimism, social bonding, blissful productivity, and a sense of epic meaning.

  • How does Jane McGonigal suggest making the real world more engaging?

    By gamifying real-world tasks to harness gamers' problem-solving potential.

Related videos

Summary

00:00

"Gamifying Real Life: Saving the World"

  • Jane McGonigal, a game designer, aims to make saving the world in real life as easy as in online games.
  • She believes that spending more time playing bigger and better games is crucial to solving urgent global problems.
  • Research suggests that the current three billion hours spent weekly on online games are insufficient to address the world's most pressing issues.
  • McGonigal proposes increasing game play to 21 billion hours per week to tackle challenges like hunger, poverty, and climate change.
  • Gamers exhibit intense focus, optimism, and a drive for "epic wins" while playing, traits that are beneficial for real-world problem-solving.
  • In contrast, real-life challenges often lead to feelings of failure, anxiety, and frustration.
  • Online games like World of Warcraft offer collaborative problem-solving environments that foster epic wins and positive feedback.
  • Gamers develop skills such as urgent optimism, social bonding, blissful productivity, and a sense of epic meaning through gameplay.
  • McGonigal advocates for making the real world more like a game to harness the problem-solving potential of gamers.
  • She draws inspiration from the history of games, suggesting that gamifying real-world tasks could lead to more effective solutions to global issues.

12:54

"Games in History and Social Innovation"

  • King of Lydia introduced dice games during a famine to distract people from suffering.
  • People alternated between eating and playing games every other day for 18 years.
  • Eventually, a final dice game was played, with winners embarking on an epic adventure to find a new place to live.
  • DNA evidence suggests the Lydians' descendants contributed to the Roman Empire.
  • Games like World Without Oil and Superstruct were created to engage players in solving real-world problems.
  • A new game with the World Bank Institute aims to certify players as Social Innovators, encouraging social enterprise development.
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