Free Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World by Jane McGonigal

that’s the kind of activity we’ll do for its own sake.
    Of course, we’ve also developed many external shortcuts to triggering our hardwired happiness systems: addictive drugs and alcohol, rich but unhealthy food, and chronic shopping, to name a few. But none of these methods are sustainable or effective in the long term. As scientists have shown, hedonic adaptation to extrinsic reward will cause our shortcut happiness behaviors to spiral out of control until they no longer work or we can no longer afford them, or even until they kill us.
    Fortunately, we don’t have to fight this losing battle. As long as we’re focused on intrinsic and not extrinsic reward, we never run out of the raw materials for making our own happiness. We’re hardwired with neurochemical systems to make all the happiness we need. We just have to work hard at things that activate us and immerse ourselves in challenging activities we enjoy for their own sake.
    Writer and self-described happiness explorer Elizabeth Gilbert puts it best: “Happiness is the consequence of personal effort.... You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings.” 24 We have the biological capability to create our own happiness through hard work. And the harder we work to experience intrinsic rewards, the stronger our internal happiness-making capabilities become.
     
     
    SO WHICH INTRINSIC rewards, exactly, are most essential to our happiness? There’s no definitive list, but a few key ideas and examples appear over and over again in the scientific literature. My analysis of significant positive-psychology findings from the past decade suggests that intrinsic rewards fall into four major categories. 25
    First and foremost, we crave satisfying work , every single day. The exact nature of this “satisfying work” is different from person to person, but for everyone it means being immersed in clearly defined, demanding activities that allow us to see the direct impact of our efforts.
     
    Second, we crave the experience, or at least the hope, of being successful. We want to feel powerful in our own lives and show off to others what we’re good at. We want to be optimistic about our own chances for success, to aspire to something, and to feel like we’re getting better over time.
     
    Third, we crave social connection . Humans are extremely social creatures, and even the most introverted among us derive a large percentage of our happiness from spending time with the people we care about. We want to share experiences and build bonds, and we most often accomplish that by doing things that matter together.
     
    Fourth, and finally, we crave meaning , or the chance to be a part of something larger than ourselves. We want to feel curiosity, awe, and wonder about things that unfold on epic scales. And most importantly, we want to belong to and contribute to something that has lasting significance beyond our own individual lives.
    These four kinds of intrinsic rewards are the foundation for optimal human experience. They’re the most powerful motivations we have other than our basic survival needs (food, safety, and sex). And what these rewards all have in common is that they’re all ways of engaging deeply with the world around us—with our environment, with other people, and with causes and projects bigger than ourselves.
     
     
    IF INTRINSIC REWARD is so much more satisfying and effective in boosting our happiness than extrinsic reward, then shouldn’t we all naturally spend most of our time tackling unnecessary obstacles and engaging in autotelic activity?
    Unfortunately, as Sonja Lyubomirsky eloquently explains: “We have been conditioned to believe that the wrong things will make us lastingly happy.” 26 We’ve been sold the American dream. And increasingly, it’s not just Americans who are giving up real happiness in favor of the pursuit of wealth, fame, and beauty. Thanks to the globalization of consumer and popular culture,