Externe Column: That's the Way to Play!

Thema van de Intermania: the way of life.

Not a shred of evidence exists in favor of the idea that life is serious. Sounds quite deliberating, doesn’t it? But pursuing reckless behavior may lead to serious problems, and life won’t be much fun either then. One of the reasons why the careless whisperer inside of you won’t hold for long is society. Whether it is about education, work or complying to the rules, the human social structure has its subtle and clear demands. Another seemingly freedom facilitating statement is YOLO. While it is used to justify risky or unthoughtful actions, reasoning could also go the other way around: because you only live once, you should rather think more seriously what to do with the only life you have (cats excluded).

However, play does apply broadly in the “serious world” without social side effects. The power of play resides in the aspect of allowed experimentation in a context similar to a real-life counterpart, but partly unknown and therefore interesting. Because trial-and-error provides a feedback loop in a safe but intriguing environment, one is able to learn through enjoyment and excitement.

If clear goals come into play, it’s a game. Since goals are omnipresent and games are intuitively fun, an innovative concept has arisen: gamification. It is distinct from actual games by the practice of applying game-like mechanisms in a non-game context. This is basically saying: making everything fun that isn’t fun yet. Imagine being as engaged in learning calculus as in watching series.  

Unfortunately, realizing both fun and functionality is easier said than done. If you ever started with Codecademy but haven’t finished a course, that’s your own empirical evidence of non-optimal gamification. Many caveats and even destructive side effects exist which you wouldn’t aspect of making things fun and playful. Therefore the need of research is crucial.

During my graduation project I will attempt to contribute to this lack of scientific knowledge and hopefully making life a little less serious but still letting it live up to the demands of society. The best of, and the best for both worlds. I take my graduation project itself quite serious though; You Only Live Once after all.