Education should learn from the positive side of gaming - reward

Hear the words of Sebastian Thrun, pioneer of learning and technology, who declared: “Education should learn from the positive side of gaming—reward, accomplishment, and fun.” Though spoken in modern times, these words carry the rhythm of eternal truth. For they remind us that learning, which should be the most joyous of human endeavors, has too often been burdened with monotony and fear. Thrun calls us back to the spirit of play, to the truth that the heart learns best not when crushed by duty, but when lifted by joy.

The essence of this teaching lies in the three gifts of gaming. First is reward—the sense that effort brings recognition, that each step forward matters. Too often, students labor through long years of study with little sign of progress. But in games, every achievement is marked, every small victory celebrated. Should not education also honor this principle, showing the learner that their striving is not in vain, but each effort builds toward greatness?

Second is accomplishment. In the world of games, the player is ever climbing, ever achieving, ever conquering challenges scaled to their strength. This cultivates confidence, resilience, and hunger for the next challenge. So too must education awaken the sense of progress, teaching not only facts, but the joy of mastery. For when a student feels the weight of their own accomplishment, they no longer need to be driven by fear—they are carried forward by pride and purpose.

Third is fun, that ancient and underestimated teacher. The child at play learns more swiftly than the child at lecture, for play enlivens the spirit and opens the mind. From the games of the Greek gymnasium to the strategic exercises of samurai training, history shows us that play is not the enemy of learning but its companion. The great innovators of every age, from Leonardo da Vinci to Richard Feynman, approached their work with the curiosity and delight of players. Thrun’s words remind us: when education forgets fun, it forgets its soul.

Consider the story of Maria Montessori, who in her classrooms gave children not rigid drills but playful tasks, tools that rewarded curiosity and accomplishment. Her students, once thought unteachable, thrived when learning became joyful. Or look to modern platforms of online learning, where progress is marked with levels, badges, and milestones. These echo the design of games, and they awaken in students the will to continue long after traditional methods would have left them weary. Such examples prove that Thrun’s vision is not fantasy but possibility.

And yet, his words also warn us: a system that ignores these principles breeds resentment and apathy. How many students sit in classrooms, joyless and uninspired, seeing education as a burden rather than a gift? Such souls may never discover the love of learning, because their education denied them the reward, the accomplishment, and the fun that make learning life itself.

The lesson for us is plain: if you are a teacher, weave into your lessons the spirit of games. Celebrate progress, however small. Shape challenges that grow with the student’s strength. Above all, bring joy into your teaching, for joy is the light in which wisdom grows. If you are a student, seek the fun in your learning—turn each lesson into a challenge, each problem into a puzzle, each triumph into a step on your own heroic journey.

So let Sebastian Thrun’s words endure: “Education should learn from the positive side of gaming—reward, accomplishment, and fun.” This is not a call to trivialize learning, but to dignify it with joy. For knowledge should never be a chain—it should be a treasure hunt, a quest, a game played with the mind and heart. And when we embrace this spirit, the halls of learning will no longer echo with sighs, but with the laughter of discovery and the triumph of accomplishment.