Like Ted Talk Analysis

Have you ever wondered how so many people can play video games for hours? Or how gamers can connect to people in the “virtual world” and learn life lessons? In the book, Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World and the article “Becoming Part of Something Bigger Than ourselves” by Jane McGonigal says “the single best way to add meaning to our lives is to connect our daily actions to something bigger than ourselves and the bigger, the better” (446). In 2009, McGonigal’s best video game, SuperBetter, went viral. The popularity from the video game increased gamers to battle health challenges like depression and anxiety. Mcgonigal's video game also increased better communication skills between friends, family,

Video games have become as pervasive an aspect of our society as television, with many people spending more time playing video games than watching television. There are many perspectives with which to gauge videos games’ effect on society, from a functionalist, conflict or interactionist perspective. (Schaefer, 2011) Each of these sociological theories can provide a different view of video games, how they affect society and the subcultures that develop around them.

Using persuasive writing, Wright begins to influence his audience that game play is a beneficial source of entertainment not a wasteful one. Playing video games increases creatively, self esteem and improve problem solving skills of the players. Video games are becoming test runs that appear or feel close to the real thing. Where you can control everything with added effects like magic or future technology. Games have the potential to exceed almost all other forms of entertainment media. They tell stories, play music, challenge us, allow us to instantly communicate and interact with others. Encourage us to create things, connect us to new communities, and let us play with people across the world. Unlike most other forms of media, games are inherently tangible. According to Wright young children spend their days in imaginary worlds, substituting toys and make believe into the real world that they are just beginning to explore and understand. Wright states that games are the result of imagination and that they consist of rules and goals. Generation of teenagers has grown up with different set of games. Teenagers use the scientific method rather than reading the manual first. Games today maybe a person’s only place to express a high-level of creativity and growth. Older generations have a lot of criticisms for games, the games can help a person learn to think on his or her own.

According to the article “Be a Gamer, save the world” by Jane McGonigal, in the world, we are living in, games are able to be the main element in answering to the challenges of the real world. Although, there are some people who think that playing a game is the waste of time and make mind to not work normally. There are quite a lot of people in the world that they are spending a lot of money and time for playing video games. It doesn’t mean those people who are playing games don’t care about real life and they don’t have any work to do, but they have jobs, children, parents and they are students in schools. Also, they have other life responsibilities to care about. There are some great points in the games that are beneficial for players.

Video games were created to provide a unique, interactive experience for the user. This “experience” is something we can define as being fun, engaging, and interesting. This was the mindset of Dr. Frankenstein in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; he was extremely engaged and interested in his work regarding the monster. However, MMORPG’s represent the bad side to video games; in the same way that Frankenstein’s monster was the hellish subject that interested him, MMORPG’s still interest some users despite their lack of true video game “experience”. In fact, MMORPG’s cause addiction, separate families, lead to depression, and separate the user from real life, indicating that they are virtual “animals” that need to be tamed.

They’re learning to learn.” (Gee, 399) Gee might be correct that there is potential to learn through video gaming, however, it is more the content of these games that should be held up to scrutiny. Specifically, the depth of violence and unrealistic virtual worlds involved in many of these games should indeed hold cause for concern. There are no long term studies to draw from telling us that video gaming is either a good or bad thing. But we do have common sense to draw from and we should consider what is known to date from both ends of the spectrum. The popular television show Dr. Phil recently aired an episode when a young man was so addicted to video gaming that it overtook his life. He no longer ate, showered or brushed his teeth and only slept when it physically overtook him. He mentally transformed himself into the video game, ignoring everything else. While this may be only one case, it should not be ignored. When considering the theories both Carr and Gee present, both essays are alarming and brings one not only to the conclusion that education is definitely in crisis in this country, but if were intending on video games to fill some kind of educational void, we are likely a country in

Wright is not so much attempting to convince his audience by weighing the positive aspects of video games on society against the detriments, as he is presenting them a vision of the possibilities of video games. Wright presents an intriguing claim and an effective argument through his own credibility, friendly tone, choice of words, and use of analogies and emotionally potent imagery, causing readers to ponder the positive impact of video games on society. Summary

Not only can video games support existing social and cultural positions, but they can also disrupt and change those positions, leading to

Let the Games Begin Reality is broken. Many of those in poor conditions across the world don’t feel like they can do anything to change the situation. Everyday, billions look into the eyes of poverty, hunger, war, hopelessness, and the mindless repetition of their seemingly meaningless lives. I’d bet you know someone who clings to addictive games such as Candy Crush or World of Warcraft. In our virtual worlds made for simplistic games that seem to have no pertinence to our betterment, millions find happiness, a sense of accomplishment, and escape.

The game seeks to trick us for a time into abandoning what is real (home) and focus on what is inside our monitors and T.V.s. Baudrillard spoke on the process of a simulated reality in a multi-step process. “In the first case, the image is a good appearance – representation is of the sacramental order.” This can be related to the early days of video games when they used cathode ray tubes to project pixelated images onto a curved glass scene. Video games where very new, and exciting. “In the second, it is an evil appearance – it is of the order of maleficence. This can be related to games starting about 15 years ago till today. Video games were and still are thought to be a source of violence in people. Many view them as a waste of time and that they detriment a person. Though this mentality is starting to fade as we shift towards the third order “In the third, it plays at being an appearance – it is of the order of sorcery”. Technology is starting to advance to the point that anyone without training in the field cannot understand what is going on. As myths about video games negative appearance are being debunked or confirmed their negative aspects are getting swallowed up by the more exciting advancements in the fields. “In the fourth, it is no longer of the order of appearances but of simulation.” At this level the video game stops being a game, and starts to become a part of everyday life (home). For as much as some may dedicate their whole lives to games, in the

In the TedTalk “Gaming can Make a Better World” Jane McGonigal tackles the stigma around video games being a waste of time and how they can actually contribute to a healthier, more fulfilling life. McGonigal first goes over the top give regrets people have at the deathbed and how in reality, video games can help make life more fulfilling by reinforcing familial and friendship bonds, help dramatically boost moods, help in self-expression and allow people to be their true selves. She cites various scientific studies and research and thus effectively uses the logos persuasion technique. At one point she also the ethos appeal by citing one of her previous TedTalks. This allows her to build her credibility and persuade readers to be more willing

Every four years when the presidential election comes around, all we see on tv are political ad campaigns during commercials. Some ads show the candidate positively, while others show the candidate negatively. Then there are the ones that don't make any sense, like the one about Donald Trump’s tiny hands. Ted Cruz introduced a commercial called Always Has during his run at the Republican nomination for president. While the campaign “Always Has” by Cruz for president does a good job in that it points out all the good aspects Ted Cruz has achieved so far, uplifting music, color choice, and testaments, it doesn’t work in that it does not state any information on what Ted Cruz plans to continue to do as president.

This was a very interesting Ted talk. If you are not really paying attention to the video you would think tomato sauce, mustard what is this guy talking about? But if you are closely listening you begin to hear the deeper meaning of his presentation. In my opinion Gladwell central argument in the Ted talk video, is humans are a diverse race who happiness cannot be measured, because deep down humans are unsure of what they want. Therefore when given options, their opinions will change. Gladwell uses Howard Moskkowitz food studies as an example to argue his case.

Jane McGonigell declares at the beginning of her lecture that she is a gamer who constantly needs clear goals. Therefore, her goal for the present lecture is to try to extend the life expectancy of the participants in the lecture in seven and a half minutes. At the same time, the participants must think about what they want to do with the time (bonus moments) that they will get. McGonigall says the audience probably think that she will ask them to spend the seven and a half minutes in game, because she is a game designer who insists that humanity should spend 21 billion hours a week playing video games. Twenty-one billion hours that are not a waste of time, since games are a positive force in the world. However, there are people that think

― Jane McGonigal, Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World