A couple of books on our reading list:
Nick Bilton is the lead technology writer for the New York Times’ Bits Blog, and his book, “I Live in the Future and Here’s How It Works: Why Your World, Work and Brain are Being Creatively Disrupted” takes on the technophobes (or the “technochondriacs,” as he calls them) who worry that our kids are too text-message obsessed and that online social networking is destroying the way humans develop and sustain real community. (Sound familiar?) Bilton argues that this is the 21st century version of the fear that has taken hold throughout history as a new technology replaces an old one, while showing us that, in fact, our brain’s “thirst for stimulation drives the technological advances of each innovation.”
And, as a staff, we really enjoyed Jane McGonigal‘s TED talk “Gaming Can Make a Better World” which explores the idea of harnessing the creativity and capacity of gamers to help solve the world’s most pressing problems. Now she’s written a book, “Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World,” expanding on her ideas, and showing us that games can fully engage and motivate us, which makes us happier, more creative, more resilient and better able to tackle challenging problems.
Intrigued? We are too.
Read any thought-provoking books lately? We’d like to hear what’s on your list!