A neuroscientist explains how playing games has shaped us

Kelly Clancy is a neuroscientist studying the biology of intelligence. She has held research positions at MIT, Berkeley, University College London, and the AI company DeepMind. Her essays have appeared in Wired, Harper’s, and The New Yorker. Below, Clancy shares five key insights from her new book, Playing with Reality: How Games Have Shaped Our World. Listen to the audio version—read by Clancy herself—in the Next Big Idea App. 1. Play is an instinct. Games are an...