The Conical Adventures of McGonigal

There are many things that Jane McGonigal talks about in Reality is Broken that really resonate with me.  I heartily enjoy how she draws from such an eclectic mix of disciplines to frame her argument.

She talks about one thing in particular that I continually struggle with in her presentations of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards.  First of all, this section delves chest-deep into the philosophical end of game design.  McGonigal addresses the misleading nature of the American Dream; that we gain happiness through the status and material belongings we earn for ourselves through our hard work. She says that these are temporary, extrinsic and hedonistic avenues of happiness.  Over time we build up resistance to this form of happiness and need to get greater and greater amounts of it to bring us happiness.  Unsurprisingly, she relates this to drug usage.  This model is unsustainable.

The idea of intrinsic happiness is happiness that comes from within.  It follows the mindset that the individual is the only force that can bring happiness to itself.  The overall system is self-propagating, self-propelling and completely renewable.  It follows the same sort of mindset that Eleanor Roosevelt hearkens in saying “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” The individual is the only force that can allow an external event to affect her internal state. Yes, an outside force can affect an individual’s physical body but only the individual can allow an event to affect their spiritual body.

As one who is in the milieu of American society, it is difficult for me to combat the cultural force of the idealized American Dream.  I completely agree with McGonigal that the extrinsic aspects of the American Dream are unhealthy.  There is a great deal of unhappiness in the world because there is an emphasis on the material and external pleasures of life.  The cultivation of the individual’s innate happiness, separate from the larger cultural context, is ignored; self-cultivation and inner peace are not the focus of the American Dream.

I live in constant fear that I have been living my life incorrectly; that I have concentrated on the wrong things.  As a person, I’m ambitious and constantly working towards my future and I often feel that I neglect the present.  Now, sure, that could be a temporary thing because of the circumstances surrounding college.  I do feel that I am working towards what McGonigal outlines as the four major categories of intrinsic rewards, but I often feel that there is a disparity between what my mind says I should do and actually happens.  There’s a phrase I try to live by now in hopes that I will adjust myself and not lose sight of what I feel should be most important, friends and family.  That phrase is, “I choose to invest my time and money in people and experiences.”

In the past, I’ve been victim of gamer regret countless times.  Throughout, the years, though, the skills and mentality that I’ve acquired are invaluable to me.  The lens of games has given me a new way to look at life. 

There’s a movement to gamify reality, and Jane McGonigal is a part of that.  I believe that through my upbringing I’ve become a part of it as well.  Because of my exposure to games, I am able to view the different systems that govern people in reality as the rules, the procedure, the games that they truly are.  Through acknowledging that the procedures that govern life operate in the much the same way as the procedures that control games, we are able to sculpt a society that is happier.  This is exactly what Jane McGonigal is trying to get at.

Unfortunately, a good chunk of this post is a bit of an incoherent rant.  Jane McGonigal hits on so many points in this reading that you could literally write dissertations about the repercussions of what she’s saying.  Since I’ve decided to go for a more free-form blog entry, editing would bring greater cohesion to what I’m saying but there always more to be done.