Interesting piece! I’m co-creator of Zombies, Run! so I’m glad to see it mentioned here - we designed it to be in the best interests of players, which is why it doesn’t feature streaks or leaderboards or other ways to manipulate you into overexercising or playing more than you want to.
That said, I’m more sanguine about gamification than the author. There are indeed many games to choose from, but the ones that are most concerning that those we have little choice but to play, whether they’re from our employers or in our schools and colleges, or built into devices and platforms like the Apple Watch and iOS.
If you’re interested in this subject, I wrote a book critiquing gamification called “You’ve Been Played” - the NYT called it illuminating and persuasive!
The one thing I'll add is that even gamified learning is of doubtful use. Duolingo is a case in point. I've known multiple people who worked their way up the leaderboards without improving their ability in the language much at all. Don't get me wrong, I like playing with it too, and I think it can be used smartly as a support for proper learning. But taking a class, memorizing vocab and paradigms, doing grammar exercises... These are still better uses of one's time.
First-class essay that, for me, reinforces the notion that humans will always struggle with short-term thinking. Gamification simply maximizes that defect. As you point out, it’s possible to overcome the defect, but between our own inclinations and the array of external factors enticing us in the wrong direction, it’s uphill. Remedies? Yes - you are right about pursuit of the difficult instead of the facile. I would add that to any extent someone is able to do so, plunge yourself into the natural world. Even if for short doses.
I’m not convinced any of this works for more than a very short period before people get bored with it, otherwise we’d all be fit, multilingual etc. I find it incredibly annoying and also pretty insulting tbh when I’m interrupted from my work or reading to be congratulated for achieving some built in goal or to have my performance ranked - “you’re doing really well, keep up the good work!” etc, when I complete a certain number or level of tasks. It’s infantilising and actually robs you of any sense of personal satisfaction in the work. People aren’t fools. Even my kids are contemptuous of the ridiculous awards they receive at school. They even gamify attendance now. It’s counter-productive. When turning up is an achievement, the implication is that there’s a lower expectation. So I’m not convinced it has much of an effect except to degrade genuine pride in accomplishment.
An issue is we can now make a living off these social traps. Take the example of a post-doctorate researcher making 40k a year. This is what the institutions and government deem someone of his education and value worth. Yet, you and I would both agree his contributions and worth is far greater than what he is paid. Yet his compensation is not reflective of that. The laws that govern how they're compensated are too slow to change, a sign of how slow these systems are in our modern age of constant and rapid change.
Now we have young adults who's only contribution to society is to dance on tik-tok and they make substantially more money than Nobel prize winners in STEM fields. The social traps have become self-sustaining where these games can now provide a living, perpetuating their allure. The short-term gains are so attractive and lucrative, that the long-term consequences of pursuing short-term goals are inconsequential. There's Only Fans creators who make their money and retire early. You play the game for a few years to reap the rewards for a lifetime.
Fewer and fewer people want to pursue worthwhile goals because the old systems that upheld them no longer provide individuals with enough to live off of. It's worth even making a distinction and calling them traditional jobs and traditional goals. I don't know how to solve this, maybe we have to create new games for scientists to play, where they can make their contributions but also be compensated fairly. I don't have any good ideas for this. I mean, it's gotten to the point where Lawyers and Doctors are now going to YouTube with videos titled, "Lawyer/Doctor reacts to [Insert TV Show Here]". They make more from doing that than what they spend a decade studying for.
I have no answers, but I guess the guiding principle here is to be wise with what game you choose to play and to have the self-awareness to know which game you are playing. But to also keep in mind how rapidly these games are changing.
Super. Human mind has been as much intelligent as gullible. Attachment or entrapment are traits of mind. The more "developed" or "advanced" an animal is, the more it is conditioned for entrapment. People whom we term "enlightened" saw through it and called the whole thing called life is Maya. But, we don't give up the chase, do we?
This was definitely worth waiting 4 months for. Thank you once more, Gurwinder, for a beautifully written essay that feels like it emerged exactly when it needed to.
My gripe is not with this set of ideas, but that, accepting its propositions, I can’t see where to go next. What exactly is “meaningful in the long term”? Love? What is love, then? If I should do things just because I like to do them, then how do I even know what those things are, assuming myself to be a victim of a life of games? What exactly is something that would bring “lasting contentment”, and how can I find other examples? Does such a thing even exist???
It’s just a bunch more questions. But maybe that’s how you know you’re nearing the truth.
Thanks again. If we are made to wait another four months, I will be content in the meantime.
Excellent essay. I make many lists, long-term, monthly, daily - and I see now that it is a way to gamify my personal goals. I get a spark from completing a task. I think it's overall a good thing, but your article reminds me that the important thing is not to check things off, but to enjoy the fruits of my labor and to continually reassess if my listed goals are nurturing my overall fulfillment, happiness, health, dreams, and juiciness of life.
I got rid of my Fitbit last year and found I enjoyed my walks much more, felt more well rested, and stopped over-exercising myself to the point of actual harm. I felt nothing but relief at letting it go.
That was truly a very good article...I recognise at least one of my daughters (age 26) in the social media reference.... She has nearly 5k followers on Instagram and what a shallow existence she has! It wasn't by design, she was captivated... Her ego got her 💥. And a number of friends who are Strava junkies... Even in their late 50s/60s.
What a great article. I developed an aversion to games, starting in childhood, and I've never cottoned to them. As a kid, I would somehow always clean up at Monopoly. I don't know why that happened, but my sister remembers it the same way. There is very little skill at Monopoly, but I did learn to buy the low rent properties early, whenever I had a chance, which some kids didn't do. But even though there was a burst of pleasure at winning, it made my siblings hate me. It didn't build connections, which is what I (middle child) most wanted with both of them. Never had any attraction to video or online games. I like the app on my phone that tells me how many miles I have walked, but that's it. You didn't get into it, but there's also the harmful psychological "game people play," as the book title from the 70s put it. Avoiding honesty and vulnerability in interpersonal relations requires complex gamesmanship. Again--you can "win" in the short term with pretense and passive-aggressive behavior and the like to control situations, but in the long-term relationships suffer. I think there are some good insights from that frame (though I never read the book). I appreciate you sharing positive ways to play games. A game like Scrabble is still zero-sum ultimately, but it's intellectually challenging and includes many small triumphs that are deeply fulfilling. As long as the players are well-matched, it can fit into the "good games" category.
Feels almost grubby to click the like button after that but what an excellent read, thank you
Interesting piece! I’m co-creator of Zombies, Run! so I’m glad to see it mentioned here - we designed it to be in the best interests of players, which is why it doesn’t feature streaks or leaderboards or other ways to manipulate you into overexercising or playing more than you want to.
That said, I’m more sanguine about gamification than the author. There are indeed many games to choose from, but the ones that are most concerning that those we have little choice but to play, whether they’re from our employers or in our schools and colleges, or built into devices and platforms like the Apple Watch and iOS.
If you’re interested in this subject, I wrote a book critiquing gamification called “You’ve Been Played” - the NYT called it illuminating and persuasive!
This was superb. Thank you.
The one thing I'll add is that even gamified learning is of doubtful use. Duolingo is a case in point. I've known multiple people who worked their way up the leaderboards without improving their ability in the language much at all. Don't get me wrong, I like playing with it too, and I think it can be used smartly as a support for proper learning. But taking a class, memorizing vocab and paradigms, doing grammar exercises... These are still better uses of one's time.
BOOM, what a read.
Haven't read anything profound like this in a while. I'm confident I'll reflect on this essay many times. Amazingly demonstrated thanks 🙏🏼
First-class essay that, for me, reinforces the notion that humans will always struggle with short-term thinking. Gamification simply maximizes that defect. As you point out, it’s possible to overcome the defect, but between our own inclinations and the array of external factors enticing us in the wrong direction, it’s uphill. Remedies? Yes - you are right about pursuit of the difficult instead of the facile. I would add that to any extent someone is able to do so, plunge yourself into the natural world. Even if for short doses.
I’m not convinced any of this works for more than a very short period before people get bored with it, otherwise we’d all be fit, multilingual etc. I find it incredibly annoying and also pretty insulting tbh when I’m interrupted from my work or reading to be congratulated for achieving some built in goal or to have my performance ranked - “you’re doing really well, keep up the good work!” etc, when I complete a certain number or level of tasks. It’s infantilising and actually robs you of any sense of personal satisfaction in the work. People aren’t fools. Even my kids are contemptuous of the ridiculous awards they receive at school. They even gamify attendance now. It’s counter-productive. When turning up is an achievement, the implication is that there’s a lower expectation. So I’m not convinced it has much of an effect except to degrade genuine pride in accomplishment.
An issue is we can now make a living off these social traps. Take the example of a post-doctorate researcher making 40k a year. This is what the institutions and government deem someone of his education and value worth. Yet, you and I would both agree his contributions and worth is far greater than what he is paid. Yet his compensation is not reflective of that. The laws that govern how they're compensated are too slow to change, a sign of how slow these systems are in our modern age of constant and rapid change.
Now we have young adults who's only contribution to society is to dance on tik-tok and they make substantially more money than Nobel prize winners in STEM fields. The social traps have become self-sustaining where these games can now provide a living, perpetuating their allure. The short-term gains are so attractive and lucrative, that the long-term consequences of pursuing short-term goals are inconsequential. There's Only Fans creators who make their money and retire early. You play the game for a few years to reap the rewards for a lifetime.
Fewer and fewer people want to pursue worthwhile goals because the old systems that upheld them no longer provide individuals with enough to live off of. It's worth even making a distinction and calling them traditional jobs and traditional goals. I don't know how to solve this, maybe we have to create new games for scientists to play, where they can make their contributions but also be compensated fairly. I don't have any good ideas for this. I mean, it's gotten to the point where Lawyers and Doctors are now going to YouTube with videos titled, "Lawyer/Doctor reacts to [Insert TV Show Here]". They make more from doing that than what they spend a decade studying for.
I have no answers, but I guess the guiding principle here is to be wise with what game you choose to play and to have the self-awareness to know which game you are playing. But to also keep in mind how rapidly these games are changing.
Super. Human mind has been as much intelligent as gullible. Attachment or entrapment are traits of mind. The more "developed" or "advanced" an animal is, the more it is conditioned for entrapment. People whom we term "enlightened" saw through it and called the whole thing called life is Maya. But, we don't give up the chase, do we?
This was definitely worth waiting 4 months for. Thank you once more, Gurwinder, for a beautifully written essay that feels like it emerged exactly when it needed to.
My gripe is not with this set of ideas, but that, accepting its propositions, I can’t see where to go next. What exactly is “meaningful in the long term”? Love? What is love, then? If I should do things just because I like to do them, then how do I even know what those things are, assuming myself to be a victim of a life of games? What exactly is something that would bring “lasting contentment”, and how can I find other examples? Does such a thing even exist???
It’s just a bunch more questions. But maybe that’s how you know you’re nearing the truth.
Thanks again. If we are made to wait another four months, I will be content in the meantime.
So, anyone here want to talk about Substack's leaderboards and subscriber counts?
Excellent essay. I make many lists, long-term, monthly, daily - and I see now that it is a way to gamify my personal goals. I get a spark from completing a task. I think it's overall a good thing, but your article reminds me that the important thing is not to check things off, but to enjoy the fruits of my labor and to continually reassess if my listed goals are nurturing my overall fulfillment, happiness, health, dreams, and juiciness of life.
I got rid of my Fitbit last year and found I enjoyed my walks much more, felt more well rested, and stopped over-exercising myself to the point of actual harm. I felt nothing but relief at letting it go.
That was truly a very good article...I recognise at least one of my daughters (age 26) in the social media reference.... She has nearly 5k followers on Instagram and what a shallow existence she has! It wasn't by design, she was captivated... Her ego got her 💥. And a number of friends who are Strava junkies... Even in their late 50s/60s.
What a great article. I developed an aversion to games, starting in childhood, and I've never cottoned to them. As a kid, I would somehow always clean up at Monopoly. I don't know why that happened, but my sister remembers it the same way. There is very little skill at Monopoly, but I did learn to buy the low rent properties early, whenever I had a chance, which some kids didn't do. But even though there was a burst of pleasure at winning, it made my siblings hate me. It didn't build connections, which is what I (middle child) most wanted with both of them. Never had any attraction to video or online games. I like the app on my phone that tells me how many miles I have walked, but that's it. You didn't get into it, but there's also the harmful psychological "game people play," as the book title from the 70s put it. Avoiding honesty and vulnerability in interpersonal relations requires complex gamesmanship. Again--you can "win" in the short term with pretense and passive-aggressive behavior and the like to control situations, but in the long-term relationships suffer. I think there are some good insights from that frame (though I never read the book). I appreciate you sharing positive ways to play games. A game like Scrabble is still zero-sum ultimately, but it's intellectually challenging and includes many small triumphs that are deeply fulfilling. As long as the players are well-matched, it can fit into the "good games" category.
That's some powerful writing, sir. I wasn't sure how you would connect the dots, but it all makes sense now.
This is the second essay of yours I have read and have thoroughly enjoyed them both. You are an exceptional writer and educator. Thank you.
Fascinating, Captain.