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