Larsen's Cultural Myths / Barack Obama Speech at 2004 DNC Convention

The first five minutes of Barack Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004, is a strong example of two of Larsen’s Cultural Myths, The Wisdom of the Rustic and The Possibility of Success. The Wisdom of the Rustic has it’s roots in the American Dream, implying that anyone and everyone has the chance to pursue their dreams, and can indeed, make it to the top regardless of their status, race, sex or religion. Larsen’s myth of The Possibility of Success is the idea that if you work hard enough you can accomplish anything you set out to do and be successful.


From the very moment he begins, Obama employs the use of The Wisdom of the Rustic, by pointing out the fact that his presence on the stage is pretty unlikely. Mr. Obama is the son of a goat herder, his father was born and raised in a village in Kenya, he attended school in a one room tin roof shack. Furthermore, Obama goes on to explain his grandfather was a cook who was a domestic servant to the British.


Obama quickly moves into another of Larsen’s Cultural Myths, The Possibility of Success, he explains how his grandfather had bigger dreams for his son, and that with hard work and perseverance, was granted a scholarship to study in a magical place, America.


Returning to The Wisdom of the Rustic again when speaking about his mother, and her parents, Obama tells of how his maternal grandfather was a farmer and worked on oil rigs and his grandmother worked in a bomb making factory while raising a baby. They also had big dreams for their daughter, Obama’s mother. In his speech he explains that his parents not only shared an improbably love, but an abiding faith in the possibilities of this nation. Their son, Barack Obama, is an extraordinary example of someone with very humble beginnings who became a graduate from Columbia University and Harvard Law, a senator, and the 1st African-American president of the United States.

Obama uses the process premise of needs as he focuses heavily on his roots and the importance of the foundation he had from hardworking individuals in his family. Additionally, an emotional process premise is used by Obama, as he successfully gets the audience to feel the joy he feels when talking about his family’s hard work and dedication to their dreams. There is a strong sense of pride felt when he is speaking of the determination and commitment required of his parents and grandparents to work towards a goal that many in their positions would have not even attempted to achieve. The emotional process premise of pride extends to the feelings cultivated from the speech in regard to our country, as Obama declares, "In no other country on earth is his story even possible."

The Game That Can Give You 10 Extra Years of Life

Jane McGonigal's TED speech titled, " The Game That Can Give You 10 Extra Years of Life" grabbed my attention, the reason being, I am not into games of any kind, and I don't understand why people love them so much. McGonigals claim seemed outrageous and drew me in with it's absurdity, and what I determined was an empty promise for a longer life.

As I viewed the speech through the lens of BJ Fogg's Behavior Model, I was in awe as McGonigal followed the requirements precisely. Fogg's Behavior Model requires that the 3 elements of motivation, ability, and trigger must come together at the same time for behavior to occur. Fogg has determined that if behavior does not occur, then one of those three elements is missing.

Motivation: As soon as she starts speaking,  McGonigal promises that by simply watching her speech you are guaranteed an extra 7.5 minutes of life. From the very beginning she had captured myself, and her live audience with what seems like a ridiculous claim. For most people, the idea of extending  life is very appealing. I, like them, was highly motivated to see how she was going to deliver on this promise.

The speech takes a sharp turn in the beginning from being very light and full of humor about what appears to be the silly topic of playing games, to a deeply emotional process premise of fear. McGonigal has collected the top 5 regrets of the dying, from Hospice workers, they are the following:

1. I wish I hadn't worked so hard.

2. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

3. I wish I had let myself be happier.

4. I wish I had the courage to express my true self.

5. I wish I had lived a life true to my dreams, instead of what others expected of me.

As we are told what the top five regrets are of those who are at the end of their lives, we immediately feel the fear of not wanting to have those same regrets. We are not only being motivated by the hope of a longer life, but the fear of these top five regrets.

Ms. McGonigal is very aware that it is hard to take a "gamer" seriously and since she has identified herself as such, to connect cognitively with the audience, throughout her speech, she uses multiple scientific studies to back her claims. It was interesting how she seemed to solve the top regrets of the dying by playing games, and used the studies conducted at universities to give her ideas credibility.

I wish I hadn't worked so hard: A clear alternative to work, is playing games.  A study by BYU found that families who played games together tended to have closer relationships within the family.

I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends: Studies conducted by Michigan University found that online social games such as, "Words with Friends" and "Farmville" are powerful relationship management tools that keep people connected.

I wish I had let myself be happier: Research at East Carolina University determined that 30 minutes a day of online game play was more powerful than pharmaceuticals in treating depression.

McGonigal admits she is not on her death bed, but a traumatic brain injury that had her wishing for death led to the creation of her game, "Super Better." As she struggled with living, she decided that she needed to make a game out of her healing, or die. She explains to the audience the benefits of making healing into a game and how it is proven that by regularly doing small activities that address Physical Resilience, Mental Resilience, Emotional Resilience & Social Resilience you can add 10 years to your life expectancy.

Abilities: McGonigal walks the viewing audience through a series of activities that can be done from your chair. These are simple activities, like the ones you would experience when playing her game, “Super Better,”  that require little effort but reap multiple benefits. Examples of the activities range from lifting your hands in the air, counting backwards from 50, shaking the hand of a neighbor for 6 seconds, or sending out a message of gratitude via text. Because of how easy and accessible these activities were, the entire audience participated.

The trigger in this speech is McGonigal herself. She has charisma, she gets the audience to laugh, and she gets them to connect with her message. McGonigal also comes across as credible, not only does she draw from her education and area of expertise, she has had her own personal experience.

This speech definitely has me looking at games in a new light. I participated in the activities that McGonigal did during her speech, I looked up the app, “ Super Better”, and I will likely buy it. McGonigal did a great job of implementing  Fogg's Behavior Model.