11/7 Reading Response 7.0

Chapter 10 – Happiness Hacking
Chapter 11 – The Engagement Economy

There is a clear problem with some of the Happiness Hacks that are presented in Chapter 10. McGonigal wants to use games to change the world, but some of her methods are so abnormal, they might only be acceptable in North America. She seems to think that what works in one place will work everywhere else. But different cultures will most certainly frown on some of the more extreme games. The most obvious example is Tombstone Hold ’Em. Her idea to use cemetery games to make people consider the value of their lives has merit, but the logic behind it is flawed. In America alone, there are many people who will find the games to be disrespectful or distasteful. Outside of America there probably even more who will be appalled by the game’s frivolous nature. The majority opinion remains that cemeteries are places for mourning and composure, rather than sites for fun and games. That’s not to say that this exercise won’t provide a positive experience for people. But changing the world’s opinion isn’t going to happen overnight and until it does, a game like this might not affect more than small percentage of the population. Not exactly the world changing revolution that McGonigal envisions.

The story in Chapter 11 about the Guardian newspaper using regular civilians to help analyze data is a very interesting one. It is a good example of how people are more eager to put forth effort when the work is satisfying and has a clear reward. Referring to Wikipedia as a complex MMORPG is also an interesting take. The rewards for writing articles aren’t as clear as in other examples but the reward of knowing that other people are making use of your hard earned information is a satisfying one.

McGonigal also speculates that the greatest success will come when people will put in the maximum amount of effort without compensation of any kind. This is a very optimistic point of view since money makes the world go round and will always be necessary. However, who’s to say that we won’t one day find ourselves working hard just for the intrinsic rewards? It’s not impossible but it seems to be a prospect that is quite far off in the future. Gamers only make up a percentage of the population, but as long as they feel that they are having an actual impact on the present or the future, they will continue to work hard. Perhaps when everyone in the world shares the gamer mentality, some of these ideas will bear fruit.