Worried About Rising Gas Prices?

Today, most of us are seriously concerned, if not truly worried, about rising gas prices. Many are wondering where this will go and what the impact will be. Would you be surprised to learn that the technology of alternative reality gaming might be an integral part of determining alternatives and solutions? Yes, game playing may lead us to answers.

Last year, participants from 12 nations participated in a large scale role playing experiment called A World Without Oil. The game was played over a 32-week period with increasingly dire scenarios in which the world ran out of crude oil. Thousands of participants from diverse cohort groups, including community leaders, industry experts, conservationists, motor racing enthusiasts and mothers, reacted to scenarios and postulated responses and impacts. Week by week, as scenarios were explored and played out, the control panel exhibited the impact on various regional economies and public opinion.

The project produced valuable insights and such tangible resources as lesson plans for teachers. Much of the fictional experiment from 2007 seems increasingly realistic today in 2008. I urge you to check it out.

The project was led by Ken Eklund and Jane McGonigal of The Institute for The Future, the world's oldest forecasting organization. Jane is a Berkeley PhD and also a blogger. I read her blog, Avant Game regularly. I encourage you to infuse and invigorate your thinking with input from smart people, like Jane McGonigal, people from different places and different disciplines. [If you explore Jane's blog be sure to learn about Cookie Rolling!]