A comment on “Reality Is Broken”
I think that the significant notion of this book is that it reckons that we are transiting into a virtual reality as a civilization. Another more important notion is that it’s writer Jane McGonigal tries to discover positive potential of computer/video games besides their well known negative aspects.
Though it is not neglecting gaming’s escapist features, it puts more accent on mechanisms of happiness that the game designers manipulate with.
McGonigal points out that the reason why people turn to gaming from their own reality is that the results in games are instantaneously reckoned while life itself can be very gloomy, unpredictable and our efforts are not necessarily always appraised. Real life breaks rules more often than we are ready to accept, while computer-video games offer rule-restricted universe. And as modern goal-driven culture is a result and success oriented, thereof most people are migrating from real life because their efforts and skills are not valuated immediately.
The eventual flaw of the book is that it almost omits to mention negative aspects of mass gaming and escapism. I guess they were not crucial for the whole idea of the book, but I think it was also important to see the big picture.
For me personally the most interesting chapters are where she discusses human happiness, its intrinsic and extrinsic aspects. Basically that is something very obvious and well known, especially in most ancient and eastern philosophies – but for me it is interesting to hear it again this time from a point of view of a gamer and game designer.