I’m a gamer, I like to have goals. I like special missions secret objectives. So here’s my special mission for this talk: I’m to try to increase the life span of every single person in room by seven and a half minutes. Literally, you will live seven and a half minutes longer you would have otherwise, just because you watched this talk.
Some you are looking a little bit skeptical. That’s okay, check it out — I have math to prove that is possible. It won’t make much sense now. I’ll it all later, just pay attention to the number the bottom: +7.68245837 minutes. That will be my gift to you I’m successful in my mission.
Now, you have a mission too. Your mission is to figure out how want to spend your extra seven and a half minutes. And I think you should do something unusual them, because these are bonus minutes. You weren’t going have them anyway.
Now, because I’m a game designer, might be thinking to yourself, I know what she us to do with those minutes, she wants us spend them playing games. Now this is a totally reasonable assumption, given that have made quite a habit of encouraging people to spend more time playing games. For example, my first TED Talk, I did propose that we spend 21 billion hours a week, as a planet, playing video games.
Now, 21 billion hours, it’s a of time. It’s so much time, in fact, that the number one unsolicited comment that have heard from people all over the world since I gave that talk, is this: Jane, games great and all, but on your deathbed, are you really going to you spent more time playing Angry Birds?
(Laughter)
This idea is so pervasive — that games a waste of time that we will come to regret — that I hear literally everywhere I go. For example, true story: Just a few weeks ago, this cab driver, upon finding that a friend and I were in town for a game developers’ conference, turned around said — and I quote — “I hate games. Waste of life. getting to the end of your life and regretting all that time.”
Now, I want to take problem seriously. I want games to be a force for good in the world. I don’t gamers to regret the time they spent playing, time I encouraged them to spend. So I have been about this question a lot lately. When we’re on our deathbeds, will we regret time we spent playing games?
Now, this may surprise you, but it turns out there is actually scientific research on this question. It’s true. Hospice workers, the people who take care of us at end of our lives, recently issued a report on the most frequently regrets that people say when they are literally on their deathbeds. And that’s I want to share with you today — the top regrets of the dying.
Number one: I wish I hadn’t worked hard. Number two: I wish I had stayed in touch my friends. Number three: I wish I had let myself be happier. four: I wish I’d had the courage to express my true self. And number five: I I’d lived a life true to my dreams, instead of others expected of me.
Now, as far as I know, one ever told one of the hospice workers, “I wish I’d more time playing video games,” but when I hear these top five regrets of the dying, can’t help but hear five deep human cravings that games actually us fulfill.
For example, I wish I hadn’t worked so hard. For people, this means, I wish I’d spent more time with my family, with my when they were growing up. Well, we know that playing games together has tremendous benefits. A recent study from Brigham Young University School of Life reported that parents who spend more time playing video games with kids have much stronger real-life relationships with them.
“I wish I’d in touch with my friends.” Hundreds of millions of people use social games like FarmVille or Words Friends to stay in daily contact with real-life friends and family. A recent study from University of Michigan showed that these games are incredibly powerful relationship-management tools. They help us stay connected with in our social network that we would otherwise grow from, if we weren’t playing games together.
“I wish I’d let myself be happier.” Well, I can’t help but think of the groundbreaking clinical trials conducted at East Carolina University that showed that online games outperform pharmaceuticals for treating clinical anxiety and depression. Just 30 minutes of online play a day was enough to create dramatic boosts in and long-term increases in happiness.
“I wish I’d had the courage to express my self.” Well, avatars are a way to express our true selves, our most heroic, idealized version of who might become. You can see that in this alter ego portrait by Robbie Cooper of a gamer with avatar. And Stanford University has been doing research for five years now document how playing a game with an idealized avatar changes we think and act in real life, making us more courageous, more ambitious, more committed to goals.
“I wish I’d led a life true to dreams, and not what others expected of me.” Are games doing this yet? I’m sure, so I’ve left a Super Mario question mark. We’re going to come back to this one.
But in meantime, perhaps you’re wondering, who is this game designer to be talking to us deathbed regrets? And it’s true, I’ve never worked in hospice, I’ve never been on my deathbed. But recently I did spend three months in bed, wanting die. Really wanting to die.
Now let me tell you that story. It started two ago, when I hit my head and got a concussion. The concussion didn’t heal properly, and 30 days, I was left with symptoms like nonstop headaches, nausea, vertigo, memory loss, mental fog. My doctor told me in order to heal my brain, I had to rest it. So had to avoid everything that triggered my symptoms. For me meant no reading, no writing, no video games, no work email, no running, no alcohol, no caffeine. In other — and I think you see where this is — no reason to live.
(Laughter)
Of course it’s meant to be funny, but in all seriousness, ideation is quite common with traumatic brain injuries. It to one in three, and it happened to me. My brain telling me, “Jane, you want to die.” It said, “You’re going to get better.” It said, “The pain will never end.”
And these voices became so and so persuasive that I started to legitimately fear my life, which is the time that I said to myself after 34 days — and will never forget this moment — I said, “I am going to kill myself or I’m going to turn into a game.”
Now, why a game? I knew researching the psychology of games for more than a that when we play a game — and this in the scientific literature — we tackle tough challenges more creativity, more determination, more optimism, and we’re more to reach out to others for help. I wanted bring these gamer traits to my real-life challenge, so I created role-playing recovery game called Jane the Concussion Slayer.
Now this became my new secret identity, the first thing I did as a slayer was call my twin sister — I have an twin sister named Kelly — and tell her, “I’m playing game to heal my brain, and I want you to with me.” This was an easier way to ask help.
She became my first ally in the game, my husband joined next, and together we identified and battled the bad guys. Now this anything that could trigger my symptoms and therefore slow down the healing process, things like bright lights crowded spaces. We also collected and activated power-ups. This was anything I could on even my worst day to feel just a bit good, just a little bit productive. Things like cuddling my dog 10 minutes, or getting out of bed and walking around the block once.
Now the game was that simple: Adopt a identity, recruit your allies, battle the bad guys, activate power-ups. But even with a game so simple, within just couple days of starting to play, that fog of depression anxiety went away. It just vanished. It felt like a miracle. it wasn’t a miracle cure for the headaches or the symptoms. That lasted for more than a year, and was the hardest year of my life by far. But even when still had the symptoms, even while I was still in pain, I stopped suffering.
Now what next with the game surprised me. I put up some posts and videos online, explaining how to play. But not everybody has a concussion, obviously, not wants to be “the slayer,” so I renamed the game SuperBetter.
And soon, I started from people all over the world who were adopting their own secret identity, recruiting their allies, and they were getting “super better,” facing challenges like cancer and chronic pain, and Crohn’s disease. Even people were playing it for terminal diagnoses like ALS. And could tell from their messages and their videos that the was helping them in the same ways that it me. They talked about feeling stronger and braver. They talked about feeling understood by their friends and family. And they even about feeling happier, even though they were in pain, though they were tackling the toughest challenge of their lives.
Now at the time, I’m thinking myself, what is going on here? I mean, how could a game so trivial intervene so powerfully in serious, and in some cases life-and-death, circumstances? I mean, it hadn’t worked for me, there’s no way I would have believed was possible. Well, it turns out there’s some science here, too. people get stronger and happier after a traumatic event. that’s what was happening to us.
The game was us experience what scientists call post-traumatic growth, which is not something we usually hear about. We usually about post-traumatic stress disorder. But scientists now know that a event doesn’t doom us to suffer indefinitely. Instead, we use it as a springboard to unleash our best qualities lead happier lives.
Here are the top five things that with post-traumatic growth say: “My priorities have changed.” “I’m not afraid to what makes me happy.” “I feel closer to my and family.” “I understand myself better. I know who I really am now.” “I have new sense of meaning and purpose in my life.” “I’m better to focus on my goals and dreams.”
Now, does this sound familiar? should, because the top five traits of post-traumatic growth are the direct opposite of the top five regrets of the dying. this is interesting, right? It seems that somehow, a traumatic event can our ability to lead a life with fewer regrets.
But how does it work? How do get from trauma to growth? Or better yet, is there a way to all the benefits of post-traumatic growth without the trauma, without having hit your head in the first place? That would be good, right?
I wanted to understand the better, so I devoured the scientific literature, and here’s what learned. There are four kinds of strength, or resilience, that contribute to post-traumatic growth, and there are scientifically activities that you can do every day to build up these kinds of resilience, and you don’t need a trauma do it.
I could tell you what these four types strength are, but I’d rather you experience them firsthand. I’d rather we all building them up together right now. Here’s what we’re going to do. We’ll a quick game together. This is where you earn the seven and a half minutes of bonus that I promised you earlier. All you have to is successfully complete the first four SuperBetter quests. And feel like you can do it. I have confidence in you.
So, everybody ready? is your first quest. Here we go. Pick one: Stand up take three steps, or make your hands into fists, them over your head as high as you can for five seconds, go! All right, I like people doing both. You are overachievers. Very good.
(Laughter)
Well done, everyone. That is worth +1 physical resilience, means that your body can withstand more stress and heal itself faster. We from the research that the number one thing you can to boost your physical resilience is to not sit still. That’s all takes. Every single second that you are not sitting still, you are actively improving health of your heart, and your lungs and brains.
Everybody for your next quest? I want you to snap fingers exactly 50 times, or count backwards from 100 seven, like this: 100, 93… Go!
(Snapping)
Don’t give up.
(Snapping)
Don’t the people counting down from 100 interfere with your to 50.
(Snapping)
(Laughter)
Nice. Wow. That’s the first time I’ve seen that. Bonus physical resilience. Well done, everyone. Now that’s worth +1 mental resilience, which means you more mental focus, more discipline, determination and willpower. We know from the scientific research willpower actually works like a muscle. It gets stronger the more you exercise it. So a tiny challenge without giving up, even one as absurd as snapping your fingers exactly 50 or counting backwards from 100 by seven is actually a scientifically validated to boost your willpower.
So good job. Quest number three. one: Because of the room, fate’s really determined this for you, but here the two options. If you’re inside, find a window and look out of it. If you’re outside, find window and look in. Or do a quick YouTube or Google image for “baby [your favorite animal.]”
Do it on your phones, or just shout some baby animals, and I’ll put them on the screen. So, what do want to see? Sloth, giraffe, elephant, snake. Okay, let’s what we got. Baby dolphin and baby llamas. Everybody look. that? Okay, one more. Baby elephant.
(Audience) Oh!
We’re for that? That’s amazing.
(Laughter)
All right, what we’re just feeling there is plus-one emotional resilience, means you have the ability to provoke powerful, positive emotions like curiosity or love, which we feel at baby animals, when you need them most.
Here’s a secret from the scientific literature for you. If can manage to experience three positive emotions for every negative emotion over the course of an hour, a day, week, you dramatically improve your health and your ability successfully tackle any problem you’re facing. And this is called the three-to-one positive emotion ratio. It’s my SuperBetter trick, so keep it up.
All right, pick one, last quest: Shake someone’s hand for seconds, or send someone a quick thank you by text, email, or Twitter. Go!
(Chatting)
Looking good, looking good. Nice, nice. it up. I love it! All right, everybody, that is +1 social resilience, which means you actually more strength from your friends, your neighbors, your family, community. Now, a great way to boost social resilience is gratitude. is even better.
Here’s one more secret for you: someone’s hand for six seconds dramatically raises the level of in your bloodstream, now that’s the trust hormone. That means all of you who just shook hands are biochemically primed to like and want help each other. This will linger during the break, so take of the networking opportunities.
(Laughter)
Well, you have successfully completed your four quests, let’s see if I’ve completed my mission to give you seven and a half of bonus life. Now I get to share one more little bit of science with you. turns out that people who regularly boost these four types of resilience — physical, mental, emotional and — live 10 years longer than everyone else. So is true. If you are regularly achieving the three-to-one positive ratio, if you are never sitting still for more an hour at a time, if you are reaching to one person you care about every single day, if you are tackling tiny goals to your willpower, you will live 10 years longer than everyone else, and here’s where math I showed you earlier comes in.
So, the average life expectancy in the U.S. and U.K. is 78.1 years, but we know from more than 1,000 peer-reviewed scientific studies that you can 10 years of life by boosting your four types of resilience. every single year that you are boosting your four types resilience, you’re actually earning .128 more years of life 46 more days of life, or 67,298 more minutes life, which means every single day, you are earning 184 minutes of life, every single hour that you are boosting your four types of resilience, like just did together, you are earning 7.68245837 more minutes of life.
Congratulations, those and a half minutes are all yours. You totally them.
Yeah!
(Applause)
Awesome. Wait, wait, wait. You still have special mission, your secret mission. How are you going to spend these of bonus life?
Well, here’s my suggestion. These seven a half bonus minutes are kind of like genie’s wishes. You can use your first wish wish for a million more wishes. Pretty clever, right? So, if you spend these and a half minutes today doing something that makes you happy, that gets you physically active, or puts you in touch with someone care about, or even just tackling a tiny challenge, you’re going to boost your resilience, you’re going to earn more minutes.
And the good news is, you can going like that. Every hour of the day, every of your life, all the way to your deathbed, which will now 10 years later than it would have otherwise. And when you get there, more likely, you will not have any of those top five regrets, because you will have up the strength and resilience to lead a life truer to your dreams. And 10 extra years, you might even have enough time to a few more games.
Thank you.
(Applause)