Not everything in life is a game | André Pase | TEDxLaçador

The incorporation of game mechanics through the process of "gamification" can be a good idea, but, unfortunately, it sometimes makes the "player" seem like little more than a hamster, running forever in the same place.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

How is everyone?

I'm going to talk a little bit
about this here,

which is something
that looks fun, looks simple,

but which has taken me
to many places in the world.

It seems a little funny

that someone who likes games, like me,
is giving this talk today,

and it sounds like, "Wow, Pase is here,
but he's sort of against this."

Quite the opposite!

It's because I like games, it's because
I believe that this is a different medium

that I'm here to share
some of my concerns with you.

To understand a little about this journey

and to understand
why I have these concerns,

I need to go back in time with you all.

A long time ago, in the '80s,

a beige entity with a monochrome monitor

arrived at my house,
at school, in many places,

and we had classes with strange names

like "Computing Class"

or "Introduction to Computing."

Back then, we learned how to program.

Maybe some of you here
learned languages like Basic,

which seemed totally strange.

But from the moment
that we faced some challenges,

we started to tame the machine,
to understand the machine.

For example,

I lost my fear of the computer
with something called "Logo,"

a language which had a little turtle
which I needed to move.

It was super simple, I'd give it
some logical commands, like PD 15,

make it turn around.

I was basically learning
a bit about calculus

and also a bit about logic.

Despite falling flat
on my face a few times,

I was learning to talk with the machine.

I was learning to look at
and talk to that strange entity.

The problem is that the moment
computers got closer to us -

today we've got our tablets handy,
we're surrounded by many things -

the problem is just
when computing advanced,

we ended up being more seduced
by operating systems,

by one specific program or another,

and we ended up adopting
ready-made things.

We stopped programming,

we stopped trying to talk
with the machine.

We lost the chance to learn,

and not only this -
and I say this as a journalist -

we lost the chance to learn
how to communicate with the machine.

Well, I'm seeing a similar problem
with electronic games.

I'm passionate about this subject,
so pardon my enthusiasm.

The electronic game
is one of the most fascinating mediums.

The electronic game - you've surely seen
someone playing "Candy Crush,"

"Angry Birds," or even
the little snake game on their phone.

If somebody suddenly distracts you
or you lose your connection ...

Man! You lose it all!

It’s because the game is based on fun,
on our desire to play,

and, most of all, it's based on our focus,

it's based on our concentration
on what we're doing,

This concentration on what we're doing
is very important nowadays.

When we're no longer concerned
about attention from others,

but more about what they're seeing,
thinking, and reflecting on what we do.

Well, this is something awesome,

games can transmit
really super cool messages,

be it "The Beatles: Rock Band"
to tell their story,

be it "Sim City" to make
us think about cities.

We have an infinite number
of cool game apps.

The problem is when we try
to bring this into our lives,

when we take this motivation

and try to bring it into our work,
into our daily routine,

it doesn't always work.

And this concerns me a little.

Maybe some of you
have already heard this little word,

one of these fashionable words,

"gamification,"

or as a clumsy translation
into Portuguese, "gamificação."

This has to do with games,
this derives from games,

but it's a little different.

What is gamification?

It's when I take rules, establish rules,

establish the mechanics,
scores, goals, and rewards

inside a process, a work sequence,

an evaluation, a production of material,

a correction of student exercises.

It's using some game mechanics

inside a process.

It seems like a game, looks like a game,
but it's a little different.

That's fine up to that point.

Yesterday, you heard
great stories about using games,

using exercises to motivate people.

Today, you're going to be seeing
some more cool things.

I like remembering some situations.

You know the classic situation:

you do your homework well
and get a star on your report card.

Or what we remember every December:

those who behave well throughout the year
get presents from Santa Claus.

In other words, there's a motivation.

We're motivated by this.

The problem is when I take
this idea of process,

of a rule, of a game,
apply it to a particular job,

and I don't always end up finding

a cool way, a fun way,

a way that makes me want
to participate in this process.

I was speaking to a company this week,

and I heard some funny comments -

it reminds me of when
someone takes a tablet,

sets it up, loads it with a lot of PDFs,

gives it to an employee
and says, "Here it is: mobile learning!"

No, guys! This is "slave learning!"

I feel sorry for those having to read it
without any guidance,

without any forethought
of how that could be applied.

Well, when we look
at this question of gamification,

what makes me a little concerned

is that if we live in a world of goals,
a world of credits,

when we sometimes buy very simple things,

we're not thinking
of the discount we receive,

but of the credits
that we can exchange one day.

We're always thinking of credits.

We have goals at work,
things to accomplish,

products to sell, customers to please.

And this is where games enter to motivate,

to make this process enjoyable.

Except that it doesn't always
happen that way.

And what's worse,
what concerns me a little

is that when we put
game dynamics in our work,

we don't always understand
our employee's nature,

our coworker's nature,

to understand and use
all these mechanics for stimulation.

I look kind of astonished and mindful

when I see that I'm, in fact,
putting someone on the same path,

to do the same work,

and what's worse, I'm creating competition
out of a game situation

which might not always be a competition.

Then my second point of concern -

sorry, but this is directed more
to those who already play a little.

When one plays video games,
as much as I have to -

I'll take Mario Bros. as an example -

I have to pass a level
and save the princess,

even if they tell me at the end,

"Sorry, but your princess
is in the next castle" and you carry on.

What troubles me is that even though
a video game has an objective, rules,

steps to complete -

like we saw just now -

everyone thinks differently.

If I give the same game to you,

if I give you the snake game
or "Angry Birds," or whatever,

each one of you will play
in a different way.

And the main problem is that
when I apply gamification metrics

to somebody's work,

I'm frequently treating them
in the same way.

I'm not valuing the fact
that maybe this person

may not want to complete
the task so quickly

only to get a score, only to beat
the company's monthly goal,

take their mind off their work,

stop thinking the way they have to think.

What concerns me is that
when we set goals, when we set rules,

when we set a very specific system,

we're impeding creativity.

This "We are Humanity" here behind me

goes down the drain.

And what's worse, a system of gamification
doesn't often take into account

that there are times in my life

that to work less
and earn less is to live more

Because I want to be able
to do a task in a cool way,

in a thoughtful way;

I want to do it creatively.

I feel concerned about the way
we're losing creativity.

I feel very concerned that once in a while
we see proposals, gamification ideas,

and the problem is that we're actually
using a technology

that was supposed to be used
to give us other ways -

we just saw with neuroscience,
which was so cool,

we saw various cool ideas yesterday -

and I'm using this as a tool
that's enslaving mankind,

and what's worse,
it's making me feel like a hamster

running around in that little wheel -
produce, produce, produce -

thinking that I'm having a good time

because I have the idea that my life
has been transformed into a game.

And what's worse, I'm not the one
who's playing this game.

The one who's playing
is the one who's controlling.

If you remember the film "Metropolis,"

it's a little like
the message from the film,

except that it looks like
"Mario Bros." or "Angry Birds,"

and this troubles me a little.

At the end of the day, what I'm thinking

is that when we finally have the chance
to create great things,

when we finally have the chance
to use the electronics,

to be humanity through a tool,

to see, to motivate people to use this

and make it in a way that they have fun
and work together cooperatively,

I'm competing for myself,

I'm only using it to reach my goal,
not thinking about the other person,

and even worse, I'm forgetting two things:

the first is that I work much better

when I'm enjoying what I do, when I want.

We don't play just because
we're obliged to;

we play because we like to.

It's because we want to solve a problem,
and this is our motivation,

to have fun, to solve this problem.

And my other bigger concern

is that finally when we could
use this to motivate people

so that we can play together,

we then play separately.

And you know very well

that when we play together,
play cooperatively, and have fun,

we share knowledge,

and that's what makes us humanity.

Thank you very much.

(Applause)