Quote

A game is an opportunity to focus our energy, with relentless optimism, at something we’re good at (or getting better at) and enjoy. In other words, gameplay is the direct emotional opposite of depression.

Jane McGonigal

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Jane McGonigal
Age: 47
Born: 1977
Born: October 21
Author
Game Designer
Writer
Philadelphia
Pennsylvania
Energy
Emotional
Better
Game
Something
Focus
Relentless
Good
Games
Optimism
Getting
Depression
Opportunity
Opposite
Enjoy
Opposites
Words
Direct

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I've been running since high school. My boyfriend was on the track team, and I'd run with him.
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Clinically speaking, depression is a pessimistic sense of your own capabilities, and despondent lack of energy.
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It may have once been true that computer games encouraged us to interact more with machines than with each other. But if you still think of gamers as loners, then you’re not playing games.
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My mom is a public school teacher and works with third grade students.
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The idea of the 'lone gamer' is really not true anymore. Up to 65 percent of gaming now is social, played either online or in the same room with people we know in real life.
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Research shows that when we're under stress or facing a major obstacle, we tend to focus on our weaknesses and what we're afraid of.
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There is so much more knowledge than most people realize about how to maximize the benefits of play and minimize the potential harms.
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Any time I consider a new project, I ask myself, is this pushing the state of gaming toward Nobel Prizes? If it's not, then it's not doing anything important enough to spend my time.
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We have to accept as a society that games are not escapist. They really do change us.
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Gamers always believe that an epic win is possible and that it's always worth trying and trying now.
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You need to develop mental habits that allow you to activate the same brain patterns we activate during gameplay.
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The real world just doesn’t offer up as easily the carefully designed pleasures, the thrilling challenges, and the powerful social bonding afforded by virtual environments. Reality doesn’t motivate us as effectively. Reality isn’t engineered to maximize our potential. Reality wasn’t designed from the bottom up to make us happy.
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We've been playing games since humanity had civilization - there is something primal about our desire and our ability to play games. It's so deep-seated that it can bypass latter-day cultural norms and biases.
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Scientists have demonstrated that dramatic, positive changes can occur in our lives as a direct result of facing an extreme challenge - whether it's coping with a serious illness, daring to quit smoking, or dealing with depression. Researchers call this 'post-traumatic growth.'
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You can't play the same game every day for years. New games are key.
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We can boost our immune systems by strengthening our social networks and decreasing stress.
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If you can manage to experience three positive emotions for every one negative emotion … you dramatically improve your health and your ability to successfully tackle any problem you're facing.
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The single biggest misconception about games is that they're an escapist waste of time.
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There is no problem that doesn't have some underlying need for more optimism, stamina, resilience and collaboration. And games are, I believe, the best platform we have for providing that.
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I don't want to be a saint I just want to help people.
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