The McGonigalization of society
Sociologist George Ritzer wrote a classic book, The McDonaldization of Society, which deals with how modern rationalization and commercialization has penetrated almost every institution, even into those such as churches and universities that were once thought exempt. I am thinking, however, that finally there is starting to be a turn towards what I’ll call “McGonigalization” (after Jane McGonigal, the game designer involved in such socially-constructive “serious” massive multi-player online games as World Without Oil and SuperStruct. Her motto is “Reality is broken. Game designers can fix it,” which, while perhaps a little arrogant as a sound bite, at least has substantially more meaning to it than, say, “I’m lovin’ it.”
If everyone in tomorrow’s society is going to be a gamer anyway, it might as well involve these types of games rather than Grand Theft Auto IV or Left Behind….
