Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas

191 | Jane McGonigal on How to Imagine the Future

Apr 4, 2022

In a fascinating conversation, game designer and futurist Jane McGonigal explores how gaming can enhance our ability to foresee and prepare for future challenges. She discusses the power of mental time travel and techniques for envisioning diverse outcomes. McGonigal highlights how games can cultivate resilience, improve problem-solving skills, and foster collaborative communities. She also emphasizes the importance of identifying 'green flags' for positive relationships and the role of creativity in navigating crises, making the future seem more imaginable and achievable.

01:21:55

Episode guests

Jane McGonigal

Highlights

AI Chapters

Episode notes

The Benefits and Skills of Gaming

01:38

Computer Simulation of a Pandamic

02:55

How Do You Create a Social Network?

04:15

Gaming Culture

00:46

Intro

5min

The Power of Gaming: Building Skills for the Future

14min

The Productive Side of Gaming: Skills and Future Anticipation

3min

Emergence in Game Design: Unpredictable Human Behavior

15min

Identifying Green Flags and Future Forecasting Games

3min

Simulations and Societal Responses

15min

Unlocking the Future: The Power of Mental Time Travel

5min

Imagining Futures: Choices and Challenges

25min

The future grows out of the present, but it manages to consistently surprise us. How can we get better at anticipating and preparing for what the future can be like? Jane McGonigal started out as a game designer, working on the kinds of games that represent miniature worlds with their own rules. This paradigm provides a useful way of thinking about predicting the future: imagining changes in the current world, then gaming out the consequence, allowing real people to produce unexpected emergent outcomes. We talk about the lessons learned that anyone can use to better prepare their brain for the future to come.

Support Mindscape on Patreon.

Jane McGonigal received her Ph.D. in performance studies from the University of California, Berkeley. She is currently a writer and Director of Games Research and Development at the Institute for the Future. She teaches a course at Stanford on How to Think Like a Futurist. She has developed several games, including SuperBetter, a game she designed to improve health and resilience after suffering from a concussion. Her recent book is Imaginable: How to See the Future Coming and Feel Ready for Anything–Even Things That Seem Impossible Today.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts

Save insights instantly, chat with episodes, and build lasting knowledge - all powered by AI.