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