Playing video games is typically considered to be a form of recreation. As it turns out, playing games might just also be helping humans to become more resilient in their everyday lives and with IT.
Speaking in a keynote session at the RSA Conference, Game Developer Jane McGonigal told the capacity crowd to embrace gaming.
What are gamers good at?
McGongial note that gamers are good at spatial awareness, multi-tasking and at building community and co-operation. Gamers are also good at building up 10 positive emotions that are key to success in life and in business.
The top 10 emotions gamers experience when playing games are: joy, relief, love, surprise, pride, curiosity, excitement, awe and wonder, contentment and creativity.
“Bringing these positive emotions into real problem solving is the secret to gamification,” McGonigal said. “It’s not just about generic motivation, it’s about leveraging these positive emotions.”
She noted that science proves that when humans experience a range of positive emotions over a period time they become more ambitious, able to achieve goals better.
Read the full story at Datamation:
RSA: Games Make Us Smarter
Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at InternetNews.com, the news service of the IT Business Edge Network, the network for technology professionals Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.