GS04 KEYNOTE: How to Think Like a Futurist
11:15 AM - 12:30 PM Friday, October 27
Grand Ballroom
Thinking about the far-off future isn’t just a fun exercise in curiosity. New scientific research shows it’s a practical skill that primes your brain for greater creativity, empathy, and optimism. In other words, futurist thinking gives you the ability to create change in your own life and the world around you, today. In this interactive keynote session from master game designer and acclaimed futurist Jane McGonigal, you’ll learn and practice three “futures thinking” habits that will improve your powers of imagination. Dr. McGonigal has developed these habits using her game-design expertise so that they are easy to learn, fun to practice, and lead directly to leveling up your creative problem-solving skills. Along the way, you’ll also hear about the latest breakthrough findings in the neuroscience of creativity, and how thinking about the future improves your brain’s ability to invent, innovate, and adapt to change.
Jane McGonigal
Game Designer and Author, SuperBetter and Reality Is Broken
Jane McGonigal is a game designer, best-selling author, and leading speaker on the engagement economy and the application of game design to the real world. She also serves as director of game research and development with the Institute for the Future. Dr. McGonigal holds a PhD from UC Berkeley. Her best-known project is SuperBetter, a mobile app and web-based game that helps individuals take on personal health challenges; her recent book, SuperBetter: A Revolutionary Approach to Getting Stronger, Happier, Braver and More Resilient, reveals scientific research into the ways games change how we respond to stress, challenge, and pain. Her previous book, Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World, makes the case that the gamer spirit—an attitude of fun, dedicated, collective problem-solving—is our greatest asset as we face the problems of the 21st century.