Are Gamers Are Urgently Optimistic In The Face Of Failure?

Many people today feel as if gamers are unsuccessful people in life who have no sense of reality. These very people underestimate the abilities the gamers possess such as, ability to multi task, ability to comprehend complex situations and solve them efficiently, and the drive to persevere. Research shows “positive failure feedback reinforces our sense of control over the game’s outcome. And a feeling of control in a goal-oriented environment can create a powerful drive to succeed (McGonigal p67).” It further states “To optimists, set-backs are energizing and the more energized we get, the more fervently we believe that success is just around the corner. Which is why, on the whole, gamers just don’t give up (McGonigal p67).” Optimism is the key drive for us to strive to obtain the best possible outcome in every situation in life. I personally feel gaming helps us to reach higher levels of optimism than those that do not game. In McGonigal’s book REALITY IS BROKEN she states “Learning to stay urgently optimistic in the face of failure is an important emotional strength that we can learn in games and apply in our real lives. When we’re energized by failure, we develop emotional stamina. And emotional stamina makes it possible

There has been extensive research done on the topic of adding video games to education to see if there were any benefits. In my opinion I feel that video games are a wonderful teaching tool used to help mold the minds of young ones through repetition. In his journal Alshaiji stated “Educational Video Games are activities that provide students the opportunity to reinforce the previous knowledge by repeating it in a more comfortable environment. They are software that helps students to learn the lesson subjects and to develop their problem-solving skills by using their desire and enthusiasm to play (Ang &Zaphiris, 2008)