A while ago I discovered TED, a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. I was drawn immediately to a specific topic displayed on the homepage: Jane McGonigal: Gaming can make a better world (video embedded below). In this presentation Jane explores the emotions of gaming and how they can be used to create solutions for the ‘big problems’ our world is experiencing today.

As a gamer I can relate to some aspects, but on one subject Jane had a totally different perspective, and that is on feedback. In games you tend to get a constant flow of feedback on how you are doing in relationship to the subject of the game. Jane explains that ‘in real life’ we do not get this feedback. And there is were I have a different perspective. For people who have read my previous posts know this. We do get constant feedback on how we are doing in relationship to every subject we focus our attention on. The feedback is given by our emotions, which are very, very accurate. The situation is that many of us have forgotten, or have been tought not to, listen to our emotions.

What games can teach us to recognize that emotions give us direct feedback. Have you ever witnessed a frustrated gamer? The expressed emotions are a direct indication how the gamer is doing in relationship to the game he/she is playing.

In games we can let our imagination run free. This is why challenging people to come with creative, out-of-the-box solutions to ‘big problems’ is so successful. People are not bound by their reality, and the resulting freedom of thought empowers people to come up with what may sound like crazy ideas that just might work.

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