Reality Is Broken Chpt. 1-2 (James Bachmann)
When reading through chapters one and two of Reality is broken, certain parts made me hesitate. Jane McGonigal kept bringing up that hard work the we elect to do will make us most happy, but I do not fully agree with that statement. The main grudge I have towards that statement is the usage of hard work. In my opinion hard work, even when being voluntarily done, can be just as frustrating as doing tedious work. So, the best way to rephrase is to instead call it fulfilling work. The work does not necessarily have to be hard or easy, but feels enough for the person completing the task. Another Idea she states is that if we allow people to customize their own work to their preferences, then happiness can be accomplished, but at what cost? The task of even customizing every job to everyone would take a miracle to complete, let alone be most efficient. The problem with this statement in my mind is that, yes, it does fix the happiness problem, at the cost of efficiency, advancement, and structure.
Now, I did not disagree with everything Jane McGonigal wrote. She argues that intrinsic motivation is a lot more powerful than extrinsic motivation, and lasts a lot longer. With this I agree. Many students, including myself, do not remember much at all after a class if we have no desire or need to remember what was taught. How to tell if something will be forgotten real quick is if a student asks “Will we be tested on this?”. But, if the student is genuinely enjoying the topic, then they can remember even the smallest of details. This does support the idea of allowing people to customize their work in order for it to more fulfilling, in the sense of the desire to learn without incentive.
Finally, to take a middle path on the last issue in my mind, how truly effective would applying games to reality be from what I read in chapter’s one and two. Now the way she seems to be describing the situation feels like an open sandbox that you have quests that you control when and how you do, but the hard difference between reality and an open sandbox game is consequence, add that on to the fact that people get bored. People can choose to hold off from doing quests and challenges because there is no consequence if they do not complete it immediately. Also, while her system of side missions and quests sounds great after first, it comes off as a form of extrinsic motivation to me, which she said herself is a very poor way of motivating people. I don’t know if I am missing important she said, but comment below if you disagree/agree or even have another spin on what she said. It would be interesting to see how other people interpreted her writing.
Alexander Clinton 
Alexandra Smith 
Wogan Snyder 
Ian Stevenson
At first, I was confused by the statement that the more hard work we do will make us happier people. However, I finally understood what she meant: having completed that hard work will make us feel most satisfied. During the time of doing that hard work, it might not be considered fun, but it will feel like a huge reward to have that work completed, making us feel good about ourselves. I also agree that intrinsic value is more powerful than extrinsic value in the end (after what you are hoping to accomplish is completed). Extrinsic value can be very harmful and is the wrong motivation to go by if you want to go farther than where you are right now.