Jane McGonigal

Games like World of Warcraft give players the means to save worlds, and incentive to learn the habits of heroes. What if we could harness this gamer power to solve real-world problems? Jane McGonigal says we can, and explains how.

When game designer Jane McGonigal found herself bedridden and suicidal following a severe concussion, she had a fascinating idea for how to get better. She dove into the scientific research and created the healing game, SuperBetter. In this moving talk, McGonigal explains how a game can boost resilience -- and promises to add 7.5 minutes to your life.

What happens when you get an entire audience to stand up and connect with one another? Chaos, that's what. At least, that's what happened when Jane McGonigal tried to teach TED to play her favorite game. Then again, when the game is "massively multiplayer thumb-wrestling," what else would you expect?

Future forecaster and game designer Jane McGonigal ran a social simulation game in 2008 that had players dealing with the effects of a respiratory pandemic set to happen in the next decade. She wasn't literally predicting the 2020 pandemic -- but she got eerily close. In this episode, McGonigal teaches us how to be futurists and talks about the role of imagination and gaming in shaping a future that we're truly excited about. (This episode is part of the TED Talks Daily end-of-year wrap-up. As 2022 draws to a close, we're sharing some of the most perspective-expanding ideas from the TED Audio Collective to give you a sense of the bigger picture, help you better understand the trends of the past year and get ready for the one ahead.)

As a futurist who helps people prepare for all different kinds of possibilities, Jane McGonigal thinks we overuse words like "unthinkable" and "unimaginable." She introduces three hypothetical scenarios, showing how you can foster the ability to think creatively, anticipate new risks and feel ready for whatever the future may hold. (Created in collaboration with Ignite Talks)