inspired by TED talk gaming can make a better world, i joined urgent evoke, a game that is “a crash course in saving the world.” the idea is to learn about, act on and imagine solutions for the things that cry out for answers in our world today – from energy needs to poverty to hunger, from peace to social justice to health and education. let’s see whether i manage to stay the 10 weeks of the game …

now as i do this, a number of interesting things crop up. in my solution-focused ways, let me phrase them as questions:

• what happens when we are challenged to look for a solution, rather than getting more and more information about the problems?
• is it easier to be motivated to do something good – for ourselves, for those close to us, for the world in general – when we do it in community?
• what does motivate you to look for a solution for something that is a big problem but not one that directly threatens you this very moment?
• is it easier to get off your you-know-whats if you have someone else set a goal for you?
• when there is something that we want to improve on, it often goes like this: 1) problem! yikes! 2) i’ll pretend it’s not there. 3) okay, i’ll do something about it. tomorrow. 4) argh! i need a solution! now! 5) here’s the next best solution, let’s take it, quick! 6) phew. 7) uhhhh …. 8] the problem isn’t really resolved! yikes! 9) i’ll pretend it’s not there. (and the loop starts afresh). ok. so now what would happen if we used urgent evoke’s model: learn, act, imagine?

thoughts?