Flow and Fiero

 Fiero is "a craving for challenges that we can overcome, battles we can win, and dangers we can vanquish." (McGonigal, p33). Ultimately the importance of which is crucial to the concept of a game as McGonigal defines it. Fiero is what gives us the gratification we need to participate in games, and is the answer to the question asked, "Why are we collectively spending 3 billion hours a week working at the very limits of our ability, for no obvious external reward?" However in doing so, another question is raised. What determines the level of return we get from 'fiero' by participating in a game?

The answer to that question is flow, "(...) the clearest sign of flow is the merging of action and awareness. A person in flow has no dualistic perspective; [they are] aware of [their] actions but not of the awareness itself." (Csikszentmihalyi, p38). The better the flow a game has the better experience of fiero you gain. This can be said to be true even with the external influence of a reward. For example, taking a coin toss as an example, if one was to toss a coin for a reward of £1 how much would they pay attention to the coin itself? Not very much. However if one was to toss a coin for £1 million the coin would become the single focus of the participants while in air. Through this example we can see that even external rewards that are 'outside' of the game only serve to enhance the experience of flow, and ultimately heighten the experience of fiero.

Fiero is demonstrably not a core element of a game however, the four core elements of a game as McGonigal defines are, "goals, rules, feedback, and voluntary participation." (p27). Fiero is only experienced upon success, it is strictly a reward for winning or completing an objective. It cannot be said that a man who has gambled his life earnings away experiences fiero. To conclude, McGonigal's definition of a game in terms of the four core elements is logically sound and cannot be intruded upon even by a core experience such as fiero.

 


Bibliography

McGonigal, J., (2011). Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World, Penguin Press HC, (P.19-34)

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, 2000. Beyond Boredom and Anxiety: Experiencing Flow in Work and Play. 25th Anniversary Edition. Jossey-Bass.