The future of education

The past few years I have become fascinated by video game psychology.  What makes video games so compelling, and how can we apply that addictive concentration to more practical uses?  If we can figure out how to make work and education as fun as video games, it would greatly accelerate our learning and improve our dedication towards progress.

Video games are already educational, although in unintended ways.  When we were little, was there any need to count above 100?  Not really.  Math isn't too useful to a kid outside counting toys and pennies.  But most video games are based on numbers.  My little 5 year old is rapidly learning to read and identify numbers in the thousands, why?  Video games.  Buying items with game credit, scores, hit points... all teach numbers.  He is also very focused on learning to read, and I have no doubt video games are part of his motivation.

A major factor of video game psychology is motivating people on a long-term basis.  What makes people play World of Warcraft or Call of Duty so religiously year-after-year?  A sense of progress.  Levelling up, completing quests, unlocking more quests, gaining a range of customized equipment, badges, backgrounds and other benefits.  And all of this makes the gamer feel pride & prestige.  Feels good to have badges, no matter what they are.  Some achievements are extremely difficult, making them even more prestigious.

Facebook has made a game out of social interaction, and people are addicted to it.  The corporate world has been chasing the holy grail of teamwork and productivity, a corporate social network.  But they fail to focus on what makes workers happy.  A happy worker needs to feel like they are a valued part of the team.  They want clear defined metrics so they know how to succeed.  And they want to feel a sense of progress.  I think they if they looked more closely at video game psychology, they could find their motivation.  Give employees "experience points," define levels and benefits of each level.  Give badges of achievement and in-depth metrics that show they are progressing.  In many video games, they show stats of all different types making it hard to say who "won."  Did you win by having the most experience points?  The most achievements?  Being part of the team who completed their goals?  And did everybody have a chance to see the stats?

My current employer has a rough grasp of this concept.  We have several profile pages and a forum to socially interact.  They give out badges in the form of buttons.  And I definitely saw a lot of motivation amongst coworkers to acquire those badges.  And I'm sure it will continue to evolve in decades to come.

In the future, I imagine school as massive interactive games designed to teach a wide range of skills.  But let's not call it "educational" as that implies tedious work.  This game would require math, science, history, etiquette, grammar and a wide myriad of educational fields.  The final levels of the game would be the tests.  Metrics would be gathered real-time, and the game would intelligently alter it's mechanics to focus on areas of improvement.  Kids would be so addicted to their education you'd have to tear them away from it.  Parents would be yelling at their kids "Quit doing your homework all day!"  And by graduation, there would be detailed stats on their grades and skill levels which could then be used in the job career... continuing the game.

A resume would show scores and achievements in various areas.  And clans would form among coworkers that got along well.

I'm a level 80 project manager, level 50 customer service and level 15 in sales.  My achievement badges I'm most proud of are in designing corporate wikis, leading major software upgrades and improving out-dated processes.  Looking for a clan of focused geeks focused on changing the world.

Hidden Talents

As we approach the commercialized Christmas season, I want to think about this... you will either be remembered or forgotten for the gifts you give.  ANYBODY can buy a cheap piece of plastic, a gift card or give money... and while gifts are always appreciated, there are things you can give that NOBODY but you can give.  Arts!  Crafts!  Homemade foods!  Would you rather get a box of corporate cookies for Christmas... or your mom's homemade peanut-butter cookies?

You're not artistic?  That's not true!  Have you tried?  Because all it requires to create art is effort.

In the modern day, it is easy to just copy & paste art... and we never share our originality.  Why?  Because we never try.  We're tired out from our mundane jobs and spend our free-time as intellectual consumers.  But I encourage you today, to think about CREATING ART!

I don't just mean art... I mean the entire category of "arts."  This includes all textual, visual and audio forms of creative expressions.

The one art I have not fully attempted, is writing.  This is the main reason I started this blog.  To exercise my skill at crafting words.  Brainstorming deep thoughts and releasing them into something fun and exciting to read.  I have several grand ideas for books, but have yet to sit down and dedicate the time to writing anything longer than a blog post.  My stories often involved time-travel, magic or super science.  The authors that inspire me the most are Robert Jordan, Piers Anthony and William Gibson.  I truly hope to share my first book with the world within the next year.

How about visual arts?  When we are kids, we draw, we color and we paint grand images from our imaginations.  Granted, most of the things we drew as kids were primitive and required explanation... but once we become adults, we generally stop drawing, painting or coloring.  A couple years ago, I decided to focus on being more artistic.  I bought pastels... which are basically oil-crayons for adults.  I scribbled out several amusing images, and then realized that I have never created an actual painting.  Maybe I'm the next Picasso!  I don't know.  So, on New Years of 2012 I made my first simple painting...

Okay, so it's no Picasso and a 5 year old could probably paint it.  But it's my first painting.  Turned sideways it looks like the emoticon :)

But I was still intimidated by the canvas, and did not create anything for nearly a year.  Then I sat down with a canvas and start brushing out a swirly background.  As it dried, I saw all sorts of images in the swirls and scribbles, and decided to paint what I was seeing...

Ah-ha!  This made me feel like Picasso.  And after painting it, I realized these images represent me and my emotions.  On the outside, I resemble a carefree puppy dog with a big stupid grin... but inside my head is a monster that feeds upon my thoughts, or maybe it is my train-of-thought.  This monster worm originates from the "uncomfortable worm" of my psyche and the eye of self-realization.  My train of thought also passes by my lust, my dark sadness, my craziness and that sick part of me that is constantly spewing uncomfortable awkward self... coming full circle back to the nervous puppy dog grinning through the chaos.

Since then, I have created a few more paintings... although nothing that impresses me as much as that one.


As a teen, I dreamed of being a rock star.  And in my 20's, I built up a home recording studio and spent endless hours recording music.  I realized that I am not the greatest musician, and that I am my own rock star.  I really don't care if others like my music, as long as I enjoy it.  Oh, and I LOVE my music.  But I'm a horrible salesman and will never put the energy needed to go commercial.  And the idea of a "rock star" making millions off of one album is virtually obsolete.  Nowadays, musicians make their money off of touring nonstop.  The recorded music is just promotion for the live show.

Most of my recorded music is controversial, political and offensive, and I usually don't share as I don't want to ostracize friends, family and future employers.  But if you have speakers connected and aren't scared of a little noise... here are samples of some of my music.

"Mass Anger" was my attempt at angry industrial-metal.  Originally named "Hate," but that band name is already taken by about 20 different bands.  So I renamed it to Mass Anger.  Music to riot to!  It's in the top 50 of rock artists on Reverbnation.  My other more offensive project is in the top 40!

Learn how to get a song on itunes at ReverbNation.com

I then spent a few years working on acoustic hippie folk music... I wanted to focus on live organic music that was upbeat, positive and non-offensive... and playable at open-mic events.  But I didn't record any of it... so if you want to hear it you'll have to coerce me to get my guitar out.  That project was named "Forest of Tree's"

Then a few years ago I discovered dubstep, and was motivated to play with experimental electronica... so I created the project "vRksa" which is sanskrit for Tree.

There are still arts I have not delved into... and even if I am not a rock star, nor a Picasso, nor a talented writer... art brings me joy. I love my art. And that's all that REALLY counts. I always imagine my descendants experiencing my art with amazement... "Wow! Great grandpa created this?"

So as we go into the gift-giving season of Christmas... remember that art is irreplaceable!  Manufactured items are a dime a dozen... but art is priceless!  So, spend money on crafting, artistic or baking supplies and create memories.  Or, buy art supplies as gifts and encourage your loved ones to release their inner-artists!