Jane Mconigal Game Design Vicarious Success

Jane McGonigal > Quotes

Showing 61-82 of 82

"That's because there is virtually nothing as engaging as this state of working at the very limits of your ability—or what both game designers and psychologists call "flow."4 When you are in a state of flow, you want to stay there: both quitting and winning are equally unsatisfying outcomes."
― Jane McGonigal, Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World

"Gamers who have grown up being intensely engaged by well-designed virtual environments are hungry for better forms of engagement in their real lives. They're seeking out ways to be blissfully productive while cooperating toward extreme-scale goals. They are a natural source of participation bandwidth for the kinds of citizen journalism, collective intelligence, humanitarian, and citizen science projects that we will increasingly seek to undertake."
― Jane McGonigal, Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World

"In 2004, researchers Martin Seligman and Christopher Peterson published Character Strengths and Virtues, a manual with twenty-four such categories, divided into six groups: wisdom and knowledge—cognitive strengths that entail the acquisition and use of knowledge; courage—emotional strengths that involve the exercise of will to accomplish goals in the face of opposition, external or internal; humanity—interpersonal strengths that involve tending to and befriending others; justice—civic strengths that underlie healthy community life; temperance—strengths that protect against excess; and transcendence—strengths that forge connections to the larger universe and provide meaning. 9"
― Jane McGonigal, Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World

"Skills Unlocked: How to Build Heroic Character Strengths If you want to make a change for the better or achieve a tough goal, don't worry about motivation. Instead, focus on increasing your self-efficacy: confidence in your ability to solve your own problems and achieve your goals. The fastest and most reliable way to increase your self-efficacy is to learn how to play a new game. Any kind of game will do, because all games require you to learn new skills and tackle tough goals. The level of dopamine in your brain influences your ability to build self-efficacy. The more you have, the more determined you feel, and the less likely you are to give up. You'll learn faster, too—because high dopamine levels improve your attention and help you process feedback more effectively. Keep in mind that video games have been shown to boost dopamine levels as much as intravenous amphetamines. Whenever you want to boost your dopamine levels, play a game—or make a prediction. Predictions prime your brain to pay closer attention and to anticipate a reward. (Playing "worst-case scenario bingo" is an excellent way to combine these two techniques!) You can also build self-efficacy vicariously by watching an avatar that looks like you accomplish feats in a virtual world. Whenever possible, customize video game avatars to look like you. Every time your avatar does something awesome, you'll get a vicarious boost to your willpower and determination. Remember, self-efficacy doesn't just help you. It can inspire you to help others. The more powerful you feel, the more likely you are to rise to the heroic occasion. So the next time you feel superpowerful, take a moment to ask yourself how you can use your powers for good."
― Jane McGonigal, SuperBetter: A Revolutionary Approach to Getting Stronger, Happier, Braver and More Resilient--Powered by the Science of Games

"Self-efficacy is the crucial difference between having lots of motivation but failing to follow through, and successfully converting motivation into consistent and effective action. With high self-efficacy, you are more likely to take actions that help you reach your goals, even if those actions are difficult or painful. You also engage with difficult problems longer, without giving up. But with low self-efficacy, no matter how motivated you are, you're less likely to take positive action—because you lack belief in your ability to make a difference in your own life."
― Jane McGonigal, SuperBetter: A Revolutionary Approach to Getting Stronger, Happier, Braver and More Resilient--Powered by the Science of Games

"Over the next generation or two, ever larger numbers of people, hundreds of millions, will become immersed in virtual worlds and online games. While we are playing, things we used to do on the outside, in "reality," won't be happening anymore, or won't be happening in the same way. You can't pull millions of person-hours out of a society without creating an atmospheric-level event."
― Jane McGonigal, Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World

"Some twenty-five hundred years ago, Herodotus looked back and saw the early games played by the Greeks as an explicit attempt to alleviate suffering. Today, I look forward and I see a future in which games once again are explicitly designed to improve quality of life, to prevent suffering, and to create real, widespread happiness. When Herodotus looked back, he saw games that were large-scale systems, designed to organize masses of people and make an entire civilization more resilient."
― Jane McGonigal, Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World

"The real world just doesn't offer up as easily the carefully designed pleasures, the thrilling challenges, and the powerful social bonding afforded by virtual environments. Reality doesn't motivate us as effectively. Reality isn't engineered to maximize our potential. Reality wasn't designed from the bottom up to make us happy. And so, there is a growing perception in the gaming community: Reality, compared to games, is broken."
― Jane McGonigal, Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World

"The truth is this: in today's society, computer and video games are fulfilling genuine human needs that the real world is currently unable to satisfy. Games are providing rewards that reality is not. They are teaching and inspiring and engaging us in ways that reality is not. They are bringing us together in ways that reality is not."
― Jane McGonigal, Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World

All Quotes | Add A Quote

Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World

Reality is Broken
7,604 ratings
Open Preview

See a Problem?

We'd love your help. Let us know what's wrong with this preview of Reality is Broken by Jane McGonigal.

Thanks for telling us about the problem.

SuperBetter: A Revolutionary Approach to Getting Stronger, Happier, Braver and More Resilient - Powered by the Science of Games

SuperBetter
2,067 ratings
Open Preview

See a Problem?

We'd love your help. Let us know what's wrong with this preview of SuperBetter by Jane McGonigal.

Thanks for telling us about the problem.

Welcome back. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account.