Blog #7

The first motivation that I noticed from the reading in the video had to do with goals, rewards, and challenges. McGonigal first stated that her goal was to help the people in the audience live a little over seven minutes longer simply through her lecture. As McGonigal summarized the steps to do this, she motivated others by allowing them to unlock certain "boosts." The reading describes that the motivation and reward of goals is what allows people to be successful. It then went on to further apply this statement to the world of games. In addition, McGonigal described the feelings of self-empowerment that can be felt by playing these games. She described that playing games with avatars helps people be more courageous and confident in regard to tackling problems. The article echoes her statement with its its idea that empowerment is the ability to feel a sense of control in the world. This new found confidence that players find in avatars allows them to transfer some of this energy to situations in real life and in terms of problem solving as well.