Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Solving the World's Problems by Playing
Could game playing be a problem-solving resource? There's much published on this concept. Watch the TED talk and find at least one additional source that speaks to the idea of how gaming can solve real-world problems. Post your findings and opinions below. The posting will close by April 14th.
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I agree with her research about gaming and I love her world changing gaming ideas. I am sure that it would be effective for those who enjoy playing games but it holds very little appeal to me because I hate spending time on a computer period.
ReplyDeleteAt 3:48, McGonigal claims: "And when we're in game worlds I believe that many of us become the best version of ourselves, the most likely to help at a moment's notice, the most likely to stick with a problem as long at it takes, to get up after failure and try again."
ReplyDeleteThat is the essence of any game. When I played Super Mario Brothers as a kid, I wanted to become a hero that saved the damsel in distress (or the worthless Princess Peach in my mind, but that's another story).
I applaud the optimism of McGonigal to make our future happen through gaming, but I don't see this as a quick endeavor.
Maybe it is time for Super Mario - The Strike on Terror.
First of all this is my second time watch this videos. people spend 300 billion time playing game in a week, however Jane believe we should spend more than 21 billion hours a week playing games that is crazy, but i do think it is a great ideas. We all have some kinds of problem, and gaming is one thing that can help us to forget our problems,and relief stress of everyday life.
ReplyDeletewe feel like we are not good at other things in life like we are in games because we achieve more in games than other things. In games, we don't feel like we are a failure, but we do feel that way in real life,i think that's one reason why people are better in games. After all this is a great presentation and hopefully we will be able to get better games so we can play the 21 billion hours on games.
Watching this video again made me realize how smart her reasoning is. I think it is a great idea for kids to game, not as much as she says because that number scared me a little, but some games do have value. Like she mentioned the ones that make you think and strategize. For example, my brother hid behind his games for about 5 years till he decided to start being social. No one knew how smart he really was until he took the time to be away from his games to show everyone that he is smart and isn't just a gaming freak. Now he has a 4.0 and is one of few being excepted to camps to be able to continue on to the Naval Academy. It is a little ironic that all the games he played were war and now that's what he is going into, but in my opinion without those 'thinkers' out in the field we probably wouldn't have a free country.
ReplyDeleteI feel like kids should take time to play some of these games but it shouldn't continue for years on end. They need to grow up and start thinking outside of the game. Apply it to real life situations. If people are able to do that I definitely think it would help the world. We would have more critical and rational thinkers.
I think overall her ideas are good, I just would hate for it to back fire and get out of hand. Meaning kids don't take the knowledge and skills they learn from games and it goes to waste or they become gamers and never leave their house... It could go either way no person is the same. Hopefully it is able to work and help solve some world problems.
When I was in high school. I spent a lot of time playing video games, Halo 3 was my game of choice. My daily routine consisted of waking up, going to school, and coming home and playing Halo until midnight. I probably spent around 7-9 hours a day playing video games. I have always thought, "Wow I wasted a lot of time". Now I'm thinking that I really didn't. I definitely learned how to think quick and on my toes, and solve problems with in seconds. This attribute definitely has helped me in my life. I probably could have learned this lesson by not playing video games, but it happened. I just need to apply what I learned from video games.
ReplyDeleteI think if someone is a bad decision maker. They should flow this woman's guidance and play video games one hour everyday. I think video games are a great tool to help us develop the attribute of problem solving. The world will be a better place, when we are all good problem solvers.
Could game playing be a problem-solving resource? Interesting question. I tend to discount McGonigal’s opinion simply because she’s a game designer. If I designed games, I too would like to persuade people to spend billions of hours playing games. Sounds like good business to me.
ReplyDeleteYet self-serving, self-promotion assumptions aside, many authorities on the subject agree there could be real world benefits from gaming, and not just personal benefits to those who spend so many hours playing. In a New York Times article dated December 7, 2010,(http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/07/science/07tierney.html?_r=0) Dr. Edward Castronova said that public policy could easily be developed and tested in the vital world first, to see if it works. His example was the hurricane Katrina. He said, “One reason that policy keeps screwing up…is because it never gets tested…In the real world, you can’t create five versions of New Orleans and throw five hurricanes at them to test different logistics. But you can do that in virtual environments.”
How can you argue with that logic? Though I was initially skeptical of McGonigal’s position, I find the research intriguing. Yes, I can see how gaming could become a problem-solving resource.
Correction: The 8th line should read . . . tested in the virtual world first . . .
DeleteI have some problems with the vagueness of her message. Though she did reference World of Warcraft (WoW) a lot, I still think her overall presentation of video games was too shallow. There are so many genres of games. I don't play WoW but I know enough about it and know that it is a real-time strategy game. My fiancé plays role-playing games such as the Final Fantasy series and the Elder Scroll series. And I'll go ahead and own up to playing The Sims - which is a life simulation game.
ReplyDeleteI don't feel like I can change the world while playing a life simulation game because I'm too busy feeding my Sims and helping them achieve their little aspirations and life goals rather than to go out and achieve my own. It's much easier to just go "click, click, click" and suddenly be at the top of my character's career while living in my own (virtual) dream house I designed.
Sure, you could say that because of my gaming I've learned how to dream big and can understand what it takes to complete a life goal... but it's not as easy as going "click, click, click" in real life. My fiancé may have picked up on some cool ways to defeat a dragon in case he ever came in contact with one... but he uses "potions" and "magic spells" that we don't have in the real world.
I don't play The Sims very often and that's because I see it as a monumental waste of time - and that's one problem I have with other games that don't encourage a strong mental development of various strategies to completing the challenge. There's no real challenge in The Sims. It's all fluffy stuff and makes my brain feel mushy. I would love to be challenged in a strategy game... but I don't have the time for it.
Another problem I have with video games are specifically games that fall under the action genre. You know, the "beat 'em up and hack and slash" games and the "shooting" games. Basically violent games. The argument supporting the unfavorable psychological effects of violent video games is nothing new.
Violence seen on TV and seen in movies has been around for years and somehow takes the blame for spiteful little kids and stupid adolescents. Violent video games require the player to actively seek out and kill other characters, sometimes with a gun in a first-person shooter style game, and sometimes with various other weapons, such as clubs, bats, and even flame throwers. (Seen in games such as Rage and Grand Theft Auto)
According to a press release from the American Psychological Association "Playing violent video games… can increase a person's aggressive thoughts, feelings and behavior both in laboratory settings and in actual life… Furthermore, violent video games may be more harmful than violent television and movies because they are interactive, very engrossing and require the player to identify with the aggressor." (http://www.apa.org/releases/videogames.htm)
I think Jane needs to readdress which type or genre of video games we need to invest more hours in. I understand that she means strategy games... But she needs to narrow it in and maybe try to convince people to stray away from violent games and pick up mentally healthier games such as strategy games. Or chess.
P.s. Hey Eric, guess what I did for my 48-hour assignment?! I turned my backyard into a giant chess board! Like, no joke. I laid bricks down in a checkered pattern and then filled in the other areas with grass. So instead of a black and white board its a grass and brick board!! It is awesome! And I've ordered giant 3 1/2 ft. chess pieces so I can actually play chess on my grass/patio thing I worked on all weekend! I'll post pictures along with my assignment.
I actually watched this video a while back. When I had the H1N1 I was popping Ted Talks like candy. I believe video games can be useful in solving real world problems. I think first of all I would like to think of hobbies or habits that we enjoy. Maybe these hobbies allow us to put on the blinders for a moment and get lost in whatever we are doing.
ReplyDeleteI have heard Eric speak many times on the "prepping" phase of making a meal. Eric enjoys the mental enjoyment of prepping a meal. I believe that these little enjoyments are important to our mental health. I think video games can be that enjoyment. For me, they are. I love stepping into the virtual world to compete and showcase my skills against my friends in online battle. This allows me to separate from the "real world" for a moment and have some harm free fun.
A study by Michigan State University is linking "creativity" to video game players.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2395824,00.asp
This does not surprise me one bit. I have noticed in my video gaming life that for me personally they are fun. It is the only medium that keeps me in touch with my closest friends. In todays role playing games and first person shooter I think it really teaches you to think on the fly. Not only does it require you to think, use strategy, make adjustments, and learn, but it demands these things at a very quick pace.
These are all just my own thoughts.
After watching this video, I delved into some critical thinking about myself. I spend a lot of time playing video games rather than do my homework or do productive things with my life like go to the gym or read a book, and I dislike the fact I do.
ReplyDeleteAs to problem-solving solutions based on gaming experiences and transitioning gaming thoughts into reality, I believe it could easily be done. If someone gets a certain feeling of satisfaction when they score a touchdown on Madden 25 or score a goal in FIFA 14, what is stopping them from changing that winning experience and emotion into real-life instead of virtual realities.
I believe the answer is in the instantaneous feedback and continual encouragement. According to the president of XEODesign, Nicole Lazzaro, thats the appeal of the new era of video games as stated in the New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/07/science/07tierney.html?_r=0. This is the reason why real life problems don't want to be solved and video games would rather be solved. If you were given a ten point boost every time you completed a paragraph of a paper, things would be completely different. Unfortunately, that won't ever happen outside of kindergarten.
The only way these problem solving techniques will be applied to real world situations if the immediate reward and the spontaneous defeats that would happen inside a video game. Without these rewards, nothing will come of people that use video game techniques in video games in the real world.
I have seen this video before and think its crazy that we spend so many hours a week playing video games. I am not a big game player, unless its Mario Kart on the Nintendo 64. I don't get the hard core Halo and World of Warcraft players and how they can spend so much time playing video games, I would rather spend my time doing something else.
ReplyDeleteI like the last game McGonigal’s was talking about. It sounds like it would be a good game for us to play to help with our skills. I don't think we should be spending time playing any type of video games. McGonigal’s needs to be more specific as to what games we should play for hours and hours a day. I don't think playing World of Warcraft for 5 hours a day will help solve any problems. If its a game that really makes people think outside the box, I think playing those video games would be great.
This article talks about putting micro tasks in video games for players to achieve. It takes about having gamers tag pictures that are in disaster areas, such as Hurricane Sandy, and post the pictures on twitter. To help see what areas were badly affected and send help where it is needed most
http://news.dice.com/2013/08/14/how-gamers-could-save-the-real-world/
It sounds like it would be a great idea.
So I think McGonigal’s ideas are definitely interesting and I do see them being somewhat helpful.
I'm reposting because somehow my first post didn't show up. There are a few things I agree with what she says and some that I do not. The part she talks about gaming helps create friendships is true in my case. My brother and I never got along growing up until one day we found ourselves playing Halo (all the time). Since then we have never had a conflict and that was 14 years ago!
ReplyDeleteWhen she talks about these towns in World of War Craft solving hunger problems is just ridiculous to me. Anyone can solve hunger problems on a video game as they are snacking on their bowl of Cheetos. In real life we actually experience hunger and at the end of the day it's dog eat dog. We don't experience the physical emotion in gaming like real life and how those reactions have psychological effects. Basically it's easy to solve hunger when your not hungry in an imaginary world.
I know people who play World of War Craft all day and most are overweight and have relationship problems (or no relationships). Does it help with coordination in technology? I believe yes. Does it increase knowledge using technology? absolutely. However, I think everything needs moderation.
Gaming can really help us become better problem solvers, but it depends on the game. Word games have been proven to stimulate the mind and their are dozens of Apps for word games. In my experience I think gaming helps multi-task and respond quicker to time crunching dilemmas. When I watch an older person try to play games (my dad) he will try to turn his entire body with the controller as if his brain doesn't get it's the controller turning the guy.
We use simulators all the time for learning to fly jets or drive cars and much more. I think gaming is a good thing when used in moderation and the right games are being played. Violent games have been linked to real life violence in many experiments. I played Grand Theft Auto for awhile and every time I got in my car afterwards I dreamed about getting in a cop chase and basically doing what you do in the game after a cop chase lol.
The article below talks about gaming and how certain games improve brain function and increases learning ability.
Games for Learning
Nicola Whitton
International Review of Qualitative Research, Vol. 6, No. 3 (Fall 2013), pp. 424-439
"Advocates of digital game-based learning make the case that games can support inclusivity and equality in education because they motivate nontraditional students, promote wider access, and engage learners who are disengaged from formal education."
While Jane McGonigal's TED Talk is inspiring (I took three full pages of notes), I found another article equally inspiring (or rather depressing) that counters her arguments.
ReplyDeleteCNN's “'The Demise of Guys': How video games and porn are ruining a generation” discusses how gaming in itself is a real-world problem. According to the article, "...young men become hooked on arousal, sacrificing their schoolwork and relationships in the pursuit of getting a tech-based buzz."
McGonigal refers to this “tech-based buzz” as a high that people of the world should be feeding off. She says gamers feel a sense of urgency, fear, concentration and deep focus while playing games—something the world needs more of to solve its problems.
When gaming, McGonigal says we become “the best version of our self”, “the most likely to help at a moment’s notice”, “the most likely to stick with a problem as long as it takes…to get up after failure and try again”.
Yet, according to CNN’s article and the research therein, “the best version of our self” during gaming is essentially, the best version of our self during gaming and nothing more. We aren’t applying our gaming “high” to conquer the world, as McGonigal would like us to believe.
The CNN article continues: "The excessive use of video games and online porn in pursuit of the next thing is creating a generation of risk-averse guys [and girls] who are unable (and unwilling) to navigate the complexities and risks inherent to real-life relationships, school and employment.”
McGonigal states that when playing a multi-player video-game, characters trust each other without even knowing each other. “Characters are willing to trust you with a world-saving mission, right away,” McGonigal enthuses. She refers to this level of trust as collaborative.
But other researchers are finding gaming to be destructive rather than collaborative.
“Stories about the degeneration are rampant: In 2005, Seungseob Lee, a South Korean man, went into cardiac arrest after playing ‘StarCraft’ for nearly 50 continuous hours,” CNN states. “Norwegian mass murder suspect Anders Behring Breivik reported during his trial that he prepared his mind and body for his marksman-focused shooting of 77 people by playing ‘World of Warcraft’ for a year and then ‘Call of Duty’ for 16 hours a day.”
McGonigal argues that time like that spent gaming is time well used.
“When we talk about how much time we’re currently investing in playing games, the only way it makes sense to even think about it is to talk about time at the magnitude of human evolution, which is an extraordinary thing,” she says. “But it’s also apt because it turns out by spending all this time playing games, we’re actually changing what we’re capable of as human beings—we’re evolving to become a more collaborative and hearty species.”
Hearty might be one way to explain it, or, maybe, heartless.
CNN states that “…video games also go wrong when the person playing them is desensitized to reality and real-life interactions with others”, relating the disconnect between virtual-worlds and reality, where people aren’t given a “level-up” every time they do something good or given another life every time they do something bad.
However, our TED Talker and CNN may have finally reached a consensus on one thing: gaming is a way to “escape real-world suffering…to get away”, McGonigal says.
And that, too, is how I view gaming. That it’s neither a bad thing nor a good thing. It’s just another world—no different than finding yourself lost in a good novel or motion picture, no different than finding yourself lost in social media or the internet, no different than losing track of time talking with a friend or spending a day at the park, carefree of any troubles.
It’s just another world. Adults still play make-believe.
After watching the TEDtalk, you would think it makes sense that certain video games or computer games could help solve the world's problems. It seems to make sense that incorporating real-life problems into games would help scientist get more ideas on how to solve these problems. People already spend so much time playing games because they are fun, challenging, and addicting, so why not incorporate some actual real-life problems? What if games kept their fun, challenging, and addicting aspects, but provide the opportunity to help solve a world problem?
ReplyDeleteErinma Ochu, a neuroscientist at the University of Manchester, said of the potential relationship between scientists and game developers, "This is a new way of working for scientists, but as long as they learn how to trust game developers to do what they do best -- make great games -- then they can have thousands of people from all around the world working on their data."
How awesome does that sound? It's like bringing the world together, one problem at a time. Picture multiple people all around the world working to solve a problem. It has to be the right thing to do, right? Bring the world together in a race to find a cure, or race to solve the puzzling question of what causes aids in monkeys.
Zoran Popovic, the co-creator of Foldit, realizes the impact this makes. He explains that this proves to us that there are few too many scientist in this world. However, with this new idea of solving the world's problems by playing games, everyone can help and be a "scientist" themselves.
So yes, I would probably say that game playing can be a problem-solving resource. With proof of what gamers have already helped to accomplish and answer, there are ways to make games life-like. And yes, we do have people in this world who have no science background, but enjoy a challenge and won't quit until it is accomplished.
Mohammadi, D. (2014, January 25). How online gamer's are solving science's biggest problems. The Guardian, Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jan/25/online-gamers-solving-sciences-biggest-problems
I don't know what I did wrong, but this post is from Danica Pickett :)
DeleteI haven't ever been fond of playing online games. I am usually the one who wants to go play outside and go on an adventure. However, this video has made me consider staying and playing games.
ReplyDeleteIn this video McGonigal said that the player is looking for that "epic win." Where they never thought the best outcome was possible. When they win a game they get positive feedback from others and they are happy to work even harder to accomplish another win. I remember when I would sit and watch my brother play James Bond 007 on our PlayStation. When he completed a level the look of excitement and happiness on his face was priceless.
In an article, from The Guardian, Dara Mohammadi says, "On paper, gamers and scientists make a bizarre union. But in reality, their two worlds aren't leagues apart: both involve solving problems within a given set of rules. Genetic analysis, for instance, is about finding sequences and patterns among seemingly random clusters of data. Frame the analysis as a pattern-spotting game that looks like Candy Crush, and, while aligning patterns and scoring points, players can also be hunting for mutations that cause cancer, Alzheimer's disease or diabetes."
I agree with this statement. I used to play Candy Crush and didn't think of it at all as what scientists do everyday to form different pieces of a puzzle.
In the last minutes of McGonigal's talk she says that gamers are capable of solving virtual world problems and not real world problems. She says that in order for people to solve problems they need to by playing games around 21 million hours a week. That seems a little obsessive to me, but imagine if the online gamers, who solve crazy scenarios in virtual worlds, turn that into solving problems in the real world we could see some remarkable things.
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jan/25/online-gamers-solving-sciences-biggest-problems
Solve the world’s problems by gaming? Probably not, but I do see the point that Jane is making. There is a connection to gaming and self-esteem, which is needed to realize one’s potential in actually solving real-life problems.
ReplyDeleteA study led by scientists at the University of Essex, investigated the idea that many people enjoy playing video games because it gives them the chance to “try on” characteristics they would like to have as their ideal self.
This may seem ridiculous; however, there is some valid truth to it. In our ‘reality’ we feel as if we are stuck with what we were given. So if we are teased for having puffy hair, or being short, those insecurities will carry over into almost every aspect of our life and we will doubt if we can do anything at all.
Gaming with avatars gives us the opportunity to step out of our lives and see what an alternative life could be. When we solve the problems within the game that feeling of accomplishment carries over into our actual reality, causing us to believe that we can do things.
Jane said in the TEDTalk that in online gaming, after an accomplishment, players are rewarded with a star or a ‘good job’ unfortunately we are not given this same courtesy in real life. We must feel accomplished by ourselves because it is a taboo when we brag about our accomplishments. I think if this changed the main attraction to gaming would diminish and real life could take its place.
http://psychcentral.com/news/2011/08/04/playing-with-personality-and-esteem-in-video-games
Despite much of the cynicism that this idea is producing, I would have to say that some of the most brilliant people that I have met have been gamers. Granted they did struggle a little bit with real-life situations and interactions. To be quite honest, as a kid, I spent more than my fair share of time playing video games and while I did have to learn a lot more about real-life interactions and relationships after the fact, I am convinced that some of my strengths I was able to develop or identify because of games.
ReplyDeleteFor example, in Pokemon, a game I knew like the back of my hand, each of your Pokemon has an associated type-attribute, like Fire or Water. Each type is weak or strong against one other or multiple other types. One huge aspect of the game is creating a team by mixing and matching different attributes to create balance. One of my strengths as a leader is being able to see different attributes in people and placing them in various positions to benefit both themselves and the organization as a whole. A lot of our success in student government came because of placing the right people in the right place. In that game I both utilized and developed my strength in identifying attributes and combinations to the point where it has become almost leadership sense.
In the case of what Dr. McGonigal (I can’t help but think of Harry Potter) was speaking to, I also spent some time playing some online games, and I can attest to some amazing happenings within games. I played an online game called Maple Story right after it was done being beta tested, and I literally watched an economy grow out of the in game money. I was amazed at how skilled some people were in the way they invested their money and grew their wealth. I couldn’t help but wonder who these people were outside of the game. As the statistic that was quoted stated, “The average young person today in a country with a strong gamer culture will have spent 10,000 hours playing online games by the age of 21.” It’s amazing to think that this much time is being spent playing online games, and even more so, that so much talent is being identified and developed in such communities. Imagine being able to utilize that dedication and that talent. That’s much of what Dr. McGonigal was talking about in her talk, and having been part of a gaming community in the past, I would have to agree with her.
Along those same lines, I found another article out of The Guardian that talked about different games that had been developed and based around the idea of solving a problem. “In 2011, people playing Foldit, an online puzzle game about protein folding, resolved the structure of an enzyme that causes an Aids-like disease in monkeys. Researchers had been working on the problem for 13 years. The gamers solved it in three weeks.” (1) Like I said, imagine harnessing the collective talent of people who are ultra-committed to solving a problem, not because of motivator like money, but out of the sheer feeling of winning. That is the gamer mentality. Many gamers PAY MONEY so they can ultimate solve a problem. Their motivation is the feeling of accomplishment.
Hearkening back to the beginning of this post, I think there is a lot of stigma surrounding gamers and what they do. Yes, some of them do waste a lot of time, but then again, is their time really being wasted when they are honing hand-eye coordination and increasing reaction time in first person shooters, mastering the allocation of resources and implementation of various strategies in strategy games, and becoming skillful in the distribution of human resources in role play games? Maybe not. I believe that there is an untapped pool of talent and motivation in the form of gamers in any genre, and that those gamers could, at the very bring a lot more insight and mastery over problem solving than they get credit for.
Sources:
1. http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jan/25/online-gamers-solving-sciences-biggest-problems