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