Could Gaming Save Our World?
In the Ted Talk with Jane McGonigal, she explains her plan to make it as easy to save the world in real life as it is to save in online games. Her plan involves convincing more people to spend more time playing online games. By doing this, and upping the number of hours people play games per week, McGonigal is offering the idea that we will be able to solve big issues in our world including hunger, poverty, obesity, etc.
The importance of this discussion is to realize that there might be an answer to solve some of the biggest issues in our environment. This answers the, “so what?” question because we as a community and a country should care if there are solutions for our problem, and make sure that we are taking advantages of these opportunities.
The question, “who cares?” is also answered because by tying in world epidemics, McGonigal is drawing the attention towards everyone in the world. As stated previously, we should all care if there is evidence that playing more video games could have a positive potential outcome on world issues. By playing those video games were players are given the task to solve complicated problems, we are allowing people to open their minds more and realize that they can do more than what they think they are capable of. This in return, will promote people in the real world to solve complex problems. By answering these questions, McGonigal is creating a stronger argument by explaining why this might be beneficial and relating this to everyone in the world. People already spend an enormous amount of time playing video games, so if extending that time period could allow the lives of millions of people to be saved, who wouldn’t be in for that?
The questions were answered through evidence and explanation of how and why this technique of gaming might be the solution to our problems. McGonigal explains the meaning of an “epic win” and how achieving an “epic win” results from performing above the ability the players believed they had. The players would have had no idea that they were capable of doing this until they actually accomplished it. This relates to the real world because people often do not know they are capable of doing something until they actually do it.
The strategies and techniques that were used in this discussion were to relating to the audience with real world examples and situations that occur all the time when individuals are playing online games. This is a strategy that I could use in my own writing because connecting to the audience gives you more of an advantage. If you are able to connect and relate to the people you are reaching out to, your argument begins to seem more accurate to them and they start to take your side.
Another strategy that I have also seen a lot of authors doing that is present in this piece and that I use myself is offering rhetorical questions. By adding rhetorical questions into your argument you are allowing the audience to think and gain a perspective for themselves on your topic.
