Games that treat (Jane McGonigal at TEDGlobal 2012)

Jane McGonigal is a gamer ; for her, the main thing in the game is a global goal . In this speech, its goal is to increase the life expectancy of everyone in the audience by seven and a half minutes . Our task: how do we then spend these bonus minutes of our lives?



And the audience expectedly received an answer from her: “ Spend it on games ” ... In her previous speech , she suggested that we spend twenty one billion hours a week to play video games. As a result, the first comment she received sounded something like this: “ On your deathbed, lying in bed, would you really like to spend your last seconds in this world on Angry Birds? ". Just recently, a taxi driver who learned that she is a game designer said: “I hate games. It's a waste of time. Imagine, regret it for the rest of your life — regret that the time spent could have been used differently ”...

She thought a lot about the taxi driver. “In our bed, on our deathbed, will we regret the time spent on the games?” ... Here is what the social workers write about this, who released a report on the most often expressed regrets in the dying minutes:

1 . I would like less tired work;

2 I would like to be closer to my friends;

3 I would like to be happier;

4 I would like to have enough courage to express my true self ;

5 I would like to live a life faithful to my dreams, and not the expectations of everyone else ...







McGonigal cannot help with these problems, but he notes that just games can help us to implement all five points.

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The first paragraph is essentially a family . McGonigal comments: “Games are an extremely good way to set up family ties for the right mood, and also they are a good way to spend time together . ” The second item is friends . She notes that one of the main reasons for using games today is to be in touch with friends. Especially if it’s a social game like FarmVille or Draw Something . Games are an incredibly powerful relationship management tool. As for happiness , the researchers note: thirty minutes of playing any online game every day helps better than any antidepressants. To point number four: games have always been a way to explore and demonstrate our true selves. Here is an example: the latest research from Stanford University shows how idealized avatars change the way we act in real life, making us more confident that there is a positive influence . The fifth point brings up the main issue of the presentation (at this moment a question symbol from Super Mario appears on the presentation slide).





Who is she? What is her right to tell us that?



Jane McGonigal is not a social worker or a researcher, but she has a right, for she has experience — she just recently spent three months in bed with one desire — rather, to die . She hit her head and as a result received a severe concussion, which, if not treated correctly, creates frequent dizziness , headache, and cognitive impairment . The doctor told her that in order to recover, she would need to rest: “No reading, writing, video games, work, mail, jogging, alcohol or caffeine . ” Which may well mean: "There is no point in living . " This is a joke ( audience laughs ), which, like many jokes, has a rather serious basis . Yes, suicidal thoughts are common for head injuries, which happened to her - the voices in her head began to say that the pain would never end ... and Jane began to fear for her life. And then she said: "I'm either going to kill myself, or I'm going to turn it all into a game."



She called this game " Jane: A Brain Concussion Slayer ". She called her sister to be her ally in the game. “It was the easiest of all ways to ask for help,” says Jane. Her husband joined the following, and together they fought the “bad guys,” that is, everything that could trigger symptoms, such as bright lights or cramped rooms. They also collected bonuses, anything that could improve their health a bit: a slow walk around the house or hugging a dog. Even with such a simple game, after only a few days, the clouding began to gradually pass : "I felt relieved ... as if a miracle happened . " Of course, this was not some miraculous healing . Other symptoms, such as headache and dizziness, continued throughout the year. But even with them - at least she did not suffer so much .







Superbetter



Already a little later after the incident, she published several posts and videos in her blog, and gave her game a name - SuperBetter (roughly translated as “Super Best” - approx. Translator ). After these posts, she began to hear feedback from people around the world. It turns out that they used this game as a treatment for many diseases: even from cancer, even from Crohn's disease or ALS ( Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ). They said they felt stronger , braver , that friends and family began to understand them better . At this point, McGonigal wonders: “How does such a trivial game take effect so powerfully? In some cases, further human life and ... death . "



On this occasion, a study was conducted which said: “Some people become stronger, happier after traumatic events . These people are experiencing what scientists call post-traumatic growth. ”



Since the creation of SuperBetter, she discovered that people began to say:



My priorities have changed ;

I feel closer to friends and family;

I understand my inner self better. I know exactly who I really am;

I have a new sense of meaning and purpose;

I better focus on my goals and dreams ...



This, McGonigal notes, is the exact opposite of the top five regrets: “Somehow, a painful event can open up the possibility of living without regret,” she says. How can we make this happen intentionally ? Moreover, how can we control this ? McGonigal hit literature and found a way to do it ...

She says that we need to work with four exercises. And gives us four quests .

Quest One : Stand up and take three steps or clench your hands into fists and raise them above your head for five seconds. Adds +1 to physical stability. That is, it turns out that the best thing you can do for your physical health is not to sit still . At this point, the audience begins to carry out this quest: everyone raises their hands, clenches their fists ... and she notes those who did not just one, but both of these exercises. “Super-successful, I like it!” She says.



Quest Two : click your fingers fifty times or count back from a hundred, taking seven units. Exercise adds +1 to mental stability , which, in turn, gives decisiveness in difficult situations. Studies also show that any of our internal qualities are like muscles, which with intensive workouts are getting better and better.



The third quest : if you are indoors - find the window and look out of it; if you are outside, then find a window and look into it. No windows - think about the child [or your favorite animal], and then make a search query on Google or YouTube, making the key word what you saw from the window or remembered. It gives +1 to emotional stability . Any difficulty, advises Jane, can be overcome if you experience three positive emotions for one negative emotion ...



Quest Four : Shake hands with someone for six seconds, or send a quick text message or thank-you email to your contacts list, which gives +1 to social sustainability . A great way to improve social sustainability is gratitude . After completing this quest, the audience becomes more relaxed and happy. It looks like it works.







The latest batch of research from McGonigal: "People who regularly increase all four types of sustainability live 10 years longer than others." This is where she took those seven minutes that she gave us at the beginning ...



Our mission, as McGonigal said at the beginning, is how to spend it ? As with the desire to gin: you can wish for a million more desires - use these minutes to get even more , to get hours, days, weeks, years ... And if you approach life like a game, then you will not have any regrets then , for now you have done something better in yourself.



At this point, the room stands up and applauds standing ...