Games can help us make a better future and change the real world -- by harnessing our collaboration superpowers and collective intelligence skills to solve real problems. A keynote by Jane McGonigal, Director of Game Research & Development, Institute for the Future
My goal today is to give you a glimpse of a future. Not necessarily THE future – no one knows what that will be yet. But I can give you a glimpse of one possible future, what I would describe as a best possible scenario future, or and “EPIC WIN.” If you’re a gamer, Epic Win is a term you probably already know and love. It’s what you declare after an overwhelming success against incredible odds. Unexpected victory for an underdog. And what the world needs an epic win. We are all collectively in an underdog situation, with the global economy, with climate change, with a lot of geopolitical instability, with quality of life challenges in the developing world. And there’s no reason that the creative industries can’t take the lead in solving those problems. In fact, as I hope to persuade you todaythere’s every reason why we, the creative industries, have the best shot at solving these extreme-scale problems. I’m going to share with you my vision for how creative industries can save the world – particularly the game development industry, but I mean that very broadly, and it potentially involves more of you than you might think.
So let’s talk about the future, and what our relationship to it is. This is a sign in our Palo Alto offices. It sums up our approach to the future.
Received nobel prize for physics in 1921
And fortunately, we have lots of people to help us tackle them. Half a billion online gamers worldwide, so maybe actually 1 in 12 people have a shot at inventing the future – if we make the right kinds of games for them to play.
And fortunately, we have lots of people to help us tackle them. Half a billion online gamers worldwide, so maybe actually 1 in 12 people have a shot at inventing the future – if we make the right kinds of games for them to play.
Received nobel prize for physics in 1921
1. Common ground 2. Shared attention
3. Multiple points of view 4. Freedom to play and experiment
We have the collaborators that we need – they’re just playing games.
We must ‘ collaborate or perish ’—across borders, cultures, disciplines, and firms, and increasingly with masses of people at one time. The good news is: we have all the extraordinary collaborators we need…
And fortunately, we have lots of people to help us tackle them. Half a billion online gamers worldwide, so maybe actually 1 in 12 people have a shot at inventing the future – if we make the right kinds of games for them to play.
342,000 years a week. Or 50,000 years a day. 50,000 years ago Neanderthal man walked the earth. That’s plenty of time to invent the future.
I’m not the first to notice this problem.
I’m Jane McGonigal, and as you can see here, I am not good at life. In real life, I get bored, stressed out, frustrated, depressed, alienated.
Clay Shirky talks about “social surplus” – in developed societies, we have a lot of free time that we don’t have to spend fighting for our very survival -- gathering food, fixing our shelter, getting our basic needs met. So we have this surplus of time and energy.
If you get enough of this, you can do amazing things. 100 million mental hours from a highly diverse knowledge community à WIKIPEDIA *as calculated by Clay Shirky
“Where’s the white paper?”
We need more players.
Your turn! Awe-inspiring questions and problems Concrete challenges Competitive collaboration Global & social, in fun, fierce bursts Everyone has the opportunity to become a Super Empowered Hopeful Individual. Games are a powerful tool for inventing a better future, and saving the real world.