Shaun: You might find the below references interesting. It talks a lot about the so called "fun theory" and the definition of what "fun" is, and the last link talks about how the challenge/reward gives us a dopamine kick similarly one would give a dog or monkey.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi - Optimal Flow http://bit.ly/Gabf Flow in Games http://bit.ly/2hd7wM The Fun Theory (pdf) http://www.theoryoffun.com/theoryoffun.pdf "Fun is the process of discovering areas in a possibility space." Neuroscientists Discover a Sense of Adventure http://bit.ly/10KK0 "Scientists have identified a key region of the brain which encourages us to be adventurous. The region, located in a primitive area of the brain, is activated when we choose unfamiliar options, suggesting an evolutionary advantage for sampling the unknown. It may also explain why re-branding of familiar products encourages to pick them off the supermarket shelves." Ben Sykes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=46930 ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [email protected] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
