Jane McGonigal's Speech: Gaming can make a better world

    Being a suitably dubbed "virtuoso gamer" myself, and the proud bearer of the "epic win face" on just about a daily basis, I found that I could connect easily to the speaker's sentiments--whether one agrees on the majority of the issues discussed or not, the main point that stuck out for me, since it seemed relatively universal, was the labeling of gamers as a "vast human resource"; it's truly a remarkable thought to ponder upon that there are around half a billion people worldwide that are honing this skill, even if the skills' worth is debatable.  McGonigal's breakdown of the four key components of the life skills adapted through online game-play was just about dead on, showing that there are social (the social fabric), philosophical (urgent optimism and epic meaning), and economic (blissful productivity) tributaries of gaming talents being accumulated world-wide, without the need of peers, teachers, or elders breathing down the necks of the youth to get these "epic wins" accomplished.  These are all reflections of real-life skills; the only difference is that they're not being invested into real life.  Whether one looks at gamers as hard-working, passionate virtuosos or lazy, good-for-nothing hooligans, it is without question that it would pay to try to adapt a way to redirect the intense interest that the individuals have in these fantasy worlds and project it onto the real world, potentially cultivating a whole new generation of human advancement.