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