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play
Well, to judge from the comments on my post about adulthood, most of you feel like play is an important component of an "adult" life. And I agree.
But this raises the question: why does play seem to be missing from so many adult lives?
Is it just because play requires people to put themselves out there on a limb, to expose an emotional side, something adults are often reluctant to do?
Jon remarks that play helps helps people learn, and also helps prepare them for future unexpected events. But our society tends to think of "learning" as the province of the young: adults generally are not encouraged to continue learning, and the sheer force of daily habit tends to reduce the frequency of unexpected events that crop up. Are these part of the reasons why people discontinue the practice of play?
Jon also mentions that play helps to refine social skills. But does the average adult need to continue to refine these skills? Is this part of why gamers are often culturally stereotyped as socially inept, doomed to forever remain in gamespace, like some sort of permanent remedial class?
If play is a human need, including for adults, where are the institutions that capitalize upon this need? What would constitute an adult "play center?" (Dave and Busters? The local bowling alley?) What would constitute an "adult kindergarten?" Are there other institutions that take our need for play, and channel it into activities that do not exactly qualify as "classic" (collective) play? (Like, say, one of those companies that lets you parachute out of a plane.)
DBauler defines play as "an activity undertaken for no other primary goal than for one's own satisfaction." As humans get older, and develop more thoroughly into individuals, what constitutes satisfaction for them begins to vary more widely. Perhaps this is why our early-life tendency towards collective play begins to wane, replaced by personally-satisfying behaviors? Are hobbies a form of play? Is woodworking play? Is fishing? Is watching NASCAR? Is playing Playstation?
When adults play with their children, is that play or something different? Labels: adulthood, play |
Sunday, June 16, 2002
7:24 PM
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