Self-Actualization through Gamification

<Lost draft from 2016 found in My Documents>

I've been thinking lately about gamification. More specifically, gamification of every day life and activities. I've been doing a lot of research lately concerning gamification. Reading powerpoint presentations, articles, and studies on it. Mostly because of my work, where I'm gamifying some apps.

First of all, I want to talk about "Fun". There's this nice quote that I read that states that "Fun is just another word for learning." And I think that makes a lot of sense. Personally, I have a -lot- of fun when I'm learning something new. I guess that's something I picked up from my upbringing, the passion for learning.

I guess people have fun in different ways, but there's this other nice quote that I read that states,

"Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do.
Play consists of whatever a body is NOT obliged to do."

And I really like this quote as well, it touches on something that bothers me often, which is how much 'fun' I'm actually having. For example, writing this blog about gamification is actually a bit more enjoyable than continuing my documentation of my Thesis. Because writing about something technical and that requires a lot of explanation feels like work. What I'm doing now just feels like I'm jotting down my thoughts.

I also realize that I play videogames with the same mindset. If I feel like the game is obliging me to complete tasks that I do not necessarily find enjoyable, well I'd rather NOT play the game at all. I think I'd much rather do something on my own terms than something that someone/something requires me to do. I find doing those things to be way more enjoyable.

Games are more enjoyable than real life. It isn't a multi-billion dollar industry for no reason. People love the escapism. To get away from the troubles of the real world and immerse yourself in the troubles of the virtual. In a game, you aren't yourself. You aren't your troubled, incompetent, imperfect self. You play as a character and you are given tasks that are suitable for the abilities of said character.

When you play Mario, you're asked to run, jump, and defeat enemies. Things that in real life you probably could not do. But when you play the game, for a while you -could- do these things. Through this, we live vicariously through the characters in the game. We can be Tony Hawk and pull of 900s with ease, we could be soldiers and fighting proxy wars to boost the war economy. WIth games, we experience things that our real selves never could.

Games are such a powerful tool because they give people the ability to do what they wish with the powers given to them without any dire consequence for failing to reach the objectives set up for them.

The problem with escapism is that people tend to overdo it. For example, students would spend way too much time playing games instead of focusing on their studies. But this can be easily explained by the fact that studies aren't fun. Based on the quote from earlier, studies are that which the students are -obliged- to do. How do we remedy this?

Gamification is the key.

When we gamify dull or boring aspects of tasks, we make them more fun and altogether more approachable. An example can be setting up small goals and milestones for us to reach.

For long term goals, perhaps they could be our career goals, or even life goals. How do we break down these large overarching goals into manageable chunks? And how do we break down these chunks into manageable every-day goals. I guess this ties up with what a lot of people call their "dream".

What I'm trying to get at is more of a philosophical point. I think if we approach life like a game, it'll be more 'fun' overall. Of course, there are aspects of it that we must take seriously; but to boil down the elements into objectives and goals allows us to separate our thinking selves from the self that must perform the actions.

I consider myself a very spiritual person. I guess it's because I spend a lot of time thinking about my "dream" and what I want to achieve in the long run. It's like I trained myself from a young age how to delay gratification. Some days in college, I woke up with so much energy. So ready to take on the world and further my career. I think most days were like this. I felt so fortunate to have that energy, to be able to harness it and mold it into something productive.

When I purely focus myself on the dev, on the production. I tap into this primal energy, a pure element where I become a tool. A channeler of production. I tap into what I believe could be considered Self-Actualization, where all worries are stripped away, all factors outside of the dev matter less. When I gamify my perspective on dev, other matters fall to the wayside.

Self-Actualization allows the individual to become a mechanism for productivity, at least in my case, I was able to put myself purely into the development of my thesis. There are so many factors to consider before I was able to get into that, but mindset also plays a huge role. I knew what I had to do, I visualized the goal in my mind and I pursued it relentlessly. When faced with a problem, I was in a position to make judgment calls.

(This is also one of the reasons why I tend to step up into the Leadership position when I can. Wanting to be the leader is a huge responsibility and that can be a topic for an entirely different blogpost. But I think when facing problems, it is pertinent for a decision to be made quickly and for the betterment of the project as a whole.)

I think by gamifying my thesis.. by purely hyper-focusing on the tasks that needed to be completed.. I was able to be the most productive I had ever been. I think that's one of the reasons why TESSELATE was a success. When I gamified the thesis, I became a Player trying to get the High Score. In becoming the Player, I understood where I stood as a developer. I understood my role, where I fit in in the grand machine.

When I completed my thesis, I tapped into a state beyond Self-Actualization, Self-Transcendence. When my thesis got received well, I was able to turn it into a tool to inspire younger devs. I didn't just leave it be, but I saw my role as an upperclassman to show younger devs that there is a way to harness that pure energy. I used my game as a way to give back to the community, to turn that positive energy and abundance of productivity into a font for others to seed their own creativity.

I think that is one of my challenges these days, to tap into that pure creative energy again.