I’m a gamer, so I like have goals. I like special missions and secret objectives. So here’s special mission for this talk: I’m going to try to increase the life span of every single in this room by seven and a half minutes. Literally, you live seven and a half minutes longer than you would have otherwise, because you watched this talk.
Some of you are looking little bit skeptical. That’s okay, because check it out — I have math prove that it 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 if I’m in my mission.
Now, you have a secret mission too. mission is to figure out how you want to spend your extra seven 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, you might be thinking yourself, I know what she wants us to do with those minutes, she wants us to spend them games. Now this is a totally reasonable assumption, given that I have made quite a habit of people to spend more time playing games. For example, my first TED Talk, I did propose that we should spend 21 billion hours a week, as planet, playing video games.
Now, 21 billion hours, it’s a lot of time. It’s so time, in fact, that the number one unsolicited comment that I have heard from people all over the 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 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 weeks ago, this cab driver, upon finding out that a friend and were in town for a game developers’ conference, turned around and — and I quote — “I hate games. Waste of life. Imagine getting to the end of life and regretting all that time.”
Now, I want take this problem seriously. I want games to be force for good in the world. I don’t want gamers regret the time they spent playing, time that I encouraged them to spend. So I have been about this question a lot lately. When we’re on our deathbeds, will we 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. workers, the people who take care of us at end of our lives, recently issued a report on the most frequently expressed regrets that people when they are literally on their deathbeds. And that’s what I want share with you today — the top five regrets the 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 I know, no one ever told one of the workers, “I wish I’d spent more time playing video games,” but when I hear top five regrets of the dying, I can’t help but hear five deep human cravings that games help 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 kids when they were growing up. Well, we know that playing together has tremendous family benefits. A recent study from Brigham Young School of Family Life reported that parents who spend more time video games with their kids have much stronger real-life 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 and family. A recent study from the University Michigan showed that these games are incredibly powerful relationship-management tools. They us stay connected with people in our social network we would otherwise grow distant from, if we weren’t playing games together.
“I wish I’d let myself happier.” Well, here I can’t help but think of the groundbreaking clinical recently conducted at East Carolina University that showed that online games can outperform pharmaceuticals for clinical anxiety and depression. Just 30 minutes of online game play a day was enough to dramatic boosts in 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 true selves, our most heroic, idealized version of who we might become. You can see that this alter ego portrait by Robbie Cooper of a with his avatar. And Stanford University has been doing for five years now to document how playing a game with idealized avatar changes how we think and act in real life, making us courageous, more ambitious, more committed to our goals.
“I wish I’d a life true to my dreams, and not what others expected of me.” 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 regrets? And it’s true, I’ve never worked in a hospice, I’ve never on my deathbed. But recently I did spend three months in bed, to die. Really wanting to die.
Now let me tell that story. It started two years ago, when I my head and got a concussion. The concussion didn’t heal properly, and after 30 days, I was left symptoms like nonstop headaches, nausea, vertigo, memory loss, mental fog. My doctor me that in order to heal my brain, I had rest it. So I had to avoid everything that my 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 I think see where this is going — no reason to live.
(Laughter)
Of course it’s meant be funny, but in all seriousness, suicidal ideation is quite with traumatic brain injuries. It happens to one in three, and it happened to me. brain started telling me, “Jane, you want to die.” It said, “You’re never going to get better.” said, “The pain will never end.”
And these voices became so persistent so persuasive that I started to legitimately fear for my life, which is the time that said to myself after 34 days — and I will never forget moment — I said, “I am either going to kill or I’m going to turn this into a game.”
Now, why a game? I knew from researching the psychology games for more than a decade that when we play a game — and is in the scientific literature — we tackle tough challenges with creativity, more determination, more optimism, and we’re more likely reach out to others for help. I wanted to bring these traits to my real-life challenge, so I created a role-playing recovery game called the Concussion Slayer.
Now this became my new secret identity, and first thing I did as a slayer was call my twin sister — I an identical twin sister named Kelly — and tell her, “I’m playing a game to heal brain, and I want you to play with me.” was an easier way to ask for help.
She my first ally in the game, my husband Kiyash joined next, and together we identified and the bad guys. Now this was anything that could trigger my symptoms therefore slow down the healing process, things like bright lights crowded spaces. We also collected 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 cuddling dog for 10 minutes, or getting out of bed and walking around the just once.
Now the game was that simple: Adopt secret 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 and anxiety went away. It just vanished. felt like a miracle. Now it wasn’t a miracle cure the headaches or the cognitive symptoms. That lasted for than a year, and it was the hardest year of my life by far. But even when I had the symptoms, even while I was still in pain, stopped suffering.
Now what happened next with the game surprised me. I put up some blog and videos online, explaining how to play. But not has a concussion, obviously, not everyone wants to be “the slayer,” so I renamed the game SuperBetter.
And soon, started hearing from people all over the world who were adopting own secret identity, recruiting their own allies, and they were getting “super better,” facing like cancer and chronic pain, depression and Crohn’s disease. Even people were playing it terminal diagnoses like ALS. And I could tell from their messages and videos that the game was helping them in the ways that it helped me. They talked about feeling stronger and braver. They about feeling better understood by 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, what going on here? I mean, how could a game so trivial intervene so powerfully such serious, and in some cases life-and-death, circumstances? I mean, if it hadn’t worked for me, there’s way I would have believed it was possible. Well, it turns out there’s science here, too. Some people get stronger and happier a traumatic event. And that’s what was happening to us.
The game helping us experience what scientists call post-traumatic growth, which not something we usually 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 as a springboard to unleash our best qualities and happier lives.
Here are the top five things that people post-traumatic growth say: “My priorities have changed.” “I’m not to do what makes me happy.” “I feel closer my friends and family.” “I understand myself better. I know I really am now.” “I have a new sense meaning and purpose in my life.” “I’m better able to focus on my and dreams.”
Now, does this sound familiar? It should, because the top five traits post-traumatic growth are essentially the direct opposite of the top five regrets of the dying. Now this interesting, right? It seems that somehow, a traumatic event can unlock our ability to lead life with fewer regrets.
But how does it work? How do you get from trauma to growth? better yet, is there a way to get all the benefits of post-traumatic growth without trauma, without having to hit your head in the first place? That would good, right?
I wanted to understand the phenomenon better, so devoured the 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 can do day to build up these four kinds of resilience, and don’t need a trauma to do it.
I could tell what these four types of strength are, but I’d rather experience them firsthand. I’d rather we all start building them up 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 life that I promised you earlier. All you have to do is complete the first four SuperBetter quests. And I feel like you do it. I have 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 as you can for five seconds, go! All right, I like the people doing both. are overachievers. Very good.
(Laughter)
Well done, everyone. That worth +1 physical resilience, which means that your body withstand more stress and heal itself faster. We know from research that the number one thing you can do to boost your physical resilience is to sit still. That’s all it takes. Every single second you are not sitting still, you are actively improving health of your heart, and your lungs and brains.
Everybody ready for your next quest? I you to snap your fingers exactly 50 times, or count backwards from 100 seven, like 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 the first time I’ve ever seen that. Bonus resilience. Well done, everyone. Now that’s worth +1 mental resilience, which means you have more focus, more discipline, determination and willpower. We know from the scientific research that actually works like a muscle. It gets stronger the more exercise it. So 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 a scientifically validated way to boost your willpower.
So good job. Quest number three. one: Because 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 window and look in. Or do a quick YouTube Google image search for “baby [your favorite animal.]”
Do it on your phones, or just out some baby 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 and llamas. Everybody look. Got that? Okay, one 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 ability to provoke powerful, positive like curiosity or love, which we feel looking at baby animals, when you need most.
Here’s a secret from the scientific literature for you. you can manage to experience three positive emotions for one negative emotion over the course of an hour, day, a week, you dramatically improve your health and your ability to successfully tackle any 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, 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. it up. I love it! All right, everybody, that is +1 resilience, which means you actually get more strength from your friends, neighbors, your family, your community. Now, a great way to social resilience is gratitude. Touch is even better.
Here’s more secret for 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 of you who just shook hands are biochemically primed like and want to help each other. This will during the break, so take advantage of the networking opportunities.
(Laughter)
Well, you have successfully completed your 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 share one more little bit of with you. It turns out that people who regularly these 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 emotion ratio, if you never sitting still for more than an hour at a time, if you are reaching out one person you care about every single day, if you are tackling tiny to boost your willpower, you will live 10 years longer than everyone else, and here’s that math I showed you earlier comes in.
So, the average life expectancy the U.S. and the U.K. is 78.1 years, but we know more than 1,000 peer-reviewed scientific studies that you can 10 years of life by boosting your four types resilience. So every single year that you are boosting four types of resilience, you’re actually earning .128 more years life or 46 more days of life, or 67,298 more minutes of life, which means every single day, are earning 184 minutes of life, or every single hour that are boosting your four types of resilience, like we 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 your special mission, your mission. How are you going to spend these minutes bonus life?
Well, here’s my suggestion. These seven and a half bonus are kind of like genie’s wishes. You can use your first wish to wish for a million wishes. Pretty 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 you in touch 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 going like that. Every hour of the day, every day your life, all the way to your deathbed, which will be 10 years later than it would have otherwise. And you get there, more than likely, you will not have any of those five regrets, because you will have built up the strength resilience to lead a life truer to your dreams. with 10 extra years, you might even have enough time to play a more games.
Thank you.
(Applause)