Massively multi-player… thumb-wrestling?
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0:01 - 0:03Today I am going to teach you
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0:03 - 0:07how to play my favorite game:
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0:07 - 0:10massively multiplayer thumb-wrestling.
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0:10 - 0:14It's the only game in the world that I know of
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0:14 - 0:16that allows you, the player,
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0:16 - 0:18the opportunity to experience
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0:18 - 0:2210 positive emotions in 60 seconds or less.
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0:22 - 0:25This is true, so if you play this game with me today
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0:25 - 0:27for just one single minute,
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0:27 - 0:31you will get to feel joy, relief, love, surprise,
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0:31 - 0:34pride, curiosity, excitement, awe and wonder,
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0:34 - 0:35contentment, and creativity,
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0:35 - 0:37all in the span of one minute.
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0:37 - 0:39So this sounds pretty good, right?
Now you're willing to play. -
0:39 - 0:41In order to teach you this game,
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0:41 - 0:42I'm going to need some volunteers
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0:42 - 0:44to come up onstage really quickly,
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0:44 - 0:46and we're going to do a little hands-on demo.
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0:46 - 0:48While they're coming up, I should let you know,
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0:48 - 0:50this game was invented 10 years ago
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0:50 - 0:53by an artists' collective in Austria named Monochrom.
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0:53 - 0:55So thank you, Monochrom.
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0:55 - 0:57Okay, so most people are familiar
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0:57 - 0:59with traditional, two-person thumb-wrestling.
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0:59 - 1:01Sunni, let's just remind them.
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1:01 - 1:04One, two, three, four,
I declare a thumb war, and we wrestle, -
1:04 - 1:06and of course Sunni beats me
because she's the best. -
1:06 - 1:09Now the first thing about
massively multiplayer thumb-wrestling, -
1:09 - 1:11we're the gamer generation.
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1:11 - 1:13There are a billion gamers on the planet now,
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1:13 - 1:15so we need more of a challenge.
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1:15 - 1:18So the first thing we need is more thumbs.
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1:18 - 1:20So Eric, come on over.
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1:20 - 1:23So we could get three thumbs together,
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1:23 - 1:25and Peter could join us.
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1:25 - 1:27We could even have four thumbs together,
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1:27 - 1:28and the way you win
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1:28 - 1:32is you're the first person
to pin someone else's thumb. -
1:32 - 1:33This is really important. You can't, like,
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1:33 - 1:36wait while they fight it out and
then swoop in at the last minute. -
1:36 - 1:37That is not how you win.
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1:37 - 1:39Ah, who did that? Eric you did that.
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1:39 - 1:42So Eric would have won. He was
the first person to pin my thumb. -
1:42 - 1:43Okay, so that's the first rule,
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1:43 - 1:45and we can see that three or four
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1:45 - 1:48is kind of the typical number of thumbs in a node,
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1:48 - 1:51but if you feel ambitious,
you don't have to hold back. -
1:51 - 1:52We can really go for it.
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1:52 - 1:54So you can see up here.
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1:54 - 1:57Now the only other rule you need to remember is,
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1:57 - 1:59gamer generation, we like a challenge.
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1:59 - 2:01I happen to notice you all have
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2:01 - 2:03some thumbs you're not using.
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2:03 - 2:06So I think we should kind of get some more involved.
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2:06 - 2:08And if we had just four people,
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2:08 - 2:09we would do it just like this,
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2:09 - 2:11and we would try and wrestle
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2:11 - 2:13both thumbs at the same time.
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2:13 - 2:14Perfect.
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2:14 - 2:16Now, if we had more people in the room,
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2:16 - 2:18instead of just wrestling in a closed node,
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2:18 - 2:21we might reach out and try
and grab some other people. -
2:21 - 2:23And in fact, that's what we're going to do right now.
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2:23 - 2:25We're going to try and get all, something like,
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2:25 - 2:28I don't know, 1,500 thumbs in this room
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2:28 - 2:30connected in a single node.
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2:30 - 2:33And we have to connect both levels,
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2:33 - 2:35so if you're up there, you're going to be
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2:35 - 2:37reaching down and reaching up.
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2:37 - 2:39Now — (Laughter) —
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2:39 - 2:41before we get started --
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2:41 - 2:44This is great. You're excited to play. —
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2:44 - 2:47before we get started, can I have
the slides back up here really quick, -
2:47 - 2:49because if you get good at this game,
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2:49 - 2:52I want you to know there are some advanced levels.
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2:52 - 2:54So this is the kind of simple level, right?
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2:54 - 2:56But there are advanced configurations.
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2:56 - 2:58This is called the Death Star Configuration.
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2:58 - 3:00Any Star Wars fans?
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3:00 - 3:02And this one's called the Möbius Strip.
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3:02 - 3:04Any science geeks, you get that one.
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3:04 - 3:07This is the hardest level. This is the extreme.
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3:07 - 3:09So we'll stick with the normal one for now,
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3:09 - 3:11and I'm going to give you 30 seconds,
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3:11 - 3:13every thumb into the node,
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3:13 - 3:15connect the upper and the lower levels,
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3:15 - 3:16you guys go on down there.
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3:16 - 3:20Thirty seconds. Into the network. Make the node.
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3:21 - 3:24Stand up! It's easier if you stand up.
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3:24 - 3:28Everybody, up up up up up!
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3:28 - 3:31Stand up, my friends.
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3:31 - 3:32All right.
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3:32 - 3:35Don't start wrestling yet.
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3:35 - 3:38If you have a free thumb, wave it around,
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3:38 - 3:41make sure it gets connected.
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3:41 - 3:44Okay. We need to do a last-minute thumb check.
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3:44 - 3:47If you have a free thumb,
wave it around to make sure. -
3:47 - 3:49Grab that thumb!
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3:49 - 3:50Reach behind you. There you go.
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3:50 - 3:51Any other thumbs?
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3:51 - 3:54Okay, on the count of three, you're going to go.
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3:54 - 3:57Try to keep track. Grab, grab, grab it.
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3:57 - 3:59Okay? One, two, three, go!
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3:59 - 4:03(Laughter)
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4:07 - 4:10Did you win? You got it? You got it? Excellent!
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4:10 - 4:12(Applause)
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4:12 - 4:16Well done. Thank you. Thank you very much.
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4:16 - 4:17All right.
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4:17 - 4:20While you are basking in the glow
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4:20 - 4:22of having won your first
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4:22 - 4:24massively multiplayer thumb-wrestling game,
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4:24 - 4:26let's do a quick recap on the positive emotions.
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4:26 - 4:28So curiosity.
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4:28 - 4:30I said "massively multiplayer thumb-wrestling."
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4:30 - 4:32You were like, "What the hell is she talking about?"
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4:32 - 4:34So I provoked a little curiosity.
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4:34 - 4:37Creativity: it took creativity to solve the problem
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4:37 - 4:38of getting all the thumbs into the node.
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4:38 - 4:39I'm reaching around and I'm reaching up.
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4:39 - 4:41So you used creativity. That was great.
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4:41 - 4:43How about surprise? The actual feeling
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4:43 - 4:46of trying to wrestle two thumbs at once
is pretty surprising. -
4:46 - 4:48You heard that sound go up in the room.
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4:48 - 4:50We had excitement. As you started to wrestle,
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4:50 - 4:52maybe you're starting to win
or this person's, like, really into it, -
4:52 - 4:54so you kind of get the excitement going.
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4:54 - 4:56We have relief. You got to stand up.
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4:56 - 4:58You've been sitting for awhile, so the physical relief,
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4:58 - 4:59getting to shake it out.
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4:59 - 5:04We had joy. You were laughing, smiling.
Look at your faces. This room is full of joy. -
5:04 - 5:06We had some contentment.
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5:06 - 5:10I didn't see anybody sending text messages
or checking their email while we were playing, -
5:10 - 5:12so you were totally content to be playing.
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5:12 - 5:13The most important three emotions,
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5:13 - 5:17awe and wonder, we had everybody
connected physically for a minute. -
5:17 - 5:18When was the last time you were at TED
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5:18 - 5:21and you got to connect physically
with every single person in the room? -
5:21 - 5:23And it's truly awesome and wondrous.
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5:23 - 5:25And speaking of physical connection,
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5:25 - 5:28you guys know I love the hormone oxytocin,
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5:28 - 5:31you release oxytocin, you feel bonded
to everyone in the room. -
5:31 - 5:33You guys know that the best way
to release oxytocin quickly -
5:33 - 5:36is to hold someone else's hand
for at least six seconds. -
5:36 - 5:38You guys were all holding hands
for way more than six seconds, -
5:38 - 5:40so we are all now biochemically primed
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5:40 - 5:42to love each other. That is great.
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5:42 - 5:45And the last emotion of pride.
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5:45 - 5:48How many people are like me. Just admit it.
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5:48 - 5:49You lost both your thumbs.
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5:49 - 5:51It just didn't work out for you.
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5:51 - 5:54That's okay, because you learned a new skill today.
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5:54 - 5:56You learned, from scratch,
a game you never knew before. -
5:56 - 5:58Now you know how to play it.
You can teach other people. -
5:58 - 6:00So congratulations.
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6:00 - 6:02How many of you won just won thumb?
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6:02 - 6:03All right. I have very good news for you.
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6:03 - 6:04According to the official rules
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6:04 - 6:06of massively multiplayer thumb-wrestling,
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6:06 - 6:10this makes you a grandmaster of the game.
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6:10 - 6:12Because there aren't that many
people who know how to play, -
6:12 - 6:15we have to kind of accelerate the program
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6:15 - 6:16more than a game like chess.
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6:16 - 6:18So congratulations, grandmasters.
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6:18 - 6:20Win one thumb once, you will
become a grandmaster. -
6:20 - 6:22Did anybody win both their thumbs?
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6:22 - 6:24Yes. Awesome. Okay.
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6:24 - 6:27Get ready to update your Twitter or Facebook status.
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6:27 - 6:29You guys, according to the rules,
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6:29 - 6:32are legendary grandmasters, so congratulations.
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6:32 - 6:35I will just leave you with this tip,
if you want to play again. -
6:35 - 6:37The best way to become a legendary grandmaster,
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6:37 - 6:39you've got your two nodes going on.
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6:39 - 6:41Pick off the one that looks easiest.
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6:41 - 6:43They're not paying attention. They look kind of weak.
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6:43 - 6:45Focus on that one and do something crazy
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6:45 - 6:46with this arm.
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6:46 - 6:48As soon as you win, suddenly stop.
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6:48 - 6:50Everybody is thrown off. You go in for the kill.
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6:50 - 6:53That's how you become a legendary grandmaster
of massively multiplayer thumb-wrestling. -
6:53 - 6:55Thank you for letting me
teach you my favorite game. -
6:55 - 6:57Wooo! (Applause)
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6:57 - 7:01Thank you. (Applause)
- Title:
- Massively multi-player… thumb-wrestling?
- Speaker:
- Jane McGonigal
- Description:
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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?
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 07:18
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