Where the Action Is: On the Site of the "Playful" Life (Part 6: Families at Play)

I haven't finished my read on the history of play yet, so I thought it might be more appropriate to post some personal thoughts about play.

The winter holiday season is a special time of year for many reasons. And while I find the rampant consumerism of the season distasteful, as a father of three I do embrace and celebrate those aspects of the season that I believe are redeeming and worth celebrating.

And one of those aspects is the celebration of play. So I thought I would offer a few reflections, focusing on the different aspects of play that I participated in over the past two weeks. These included different kinds of social and imaginative play.

The holiday season is a celebration of play for many reasons. Firstly, and most importantly, is that it is a time a year that affords us the most important prerequisite for play-- *time*. Having a few extra days to spend time with friends and family permits one to pursue activities that are much harder to pursue during the time constraints of the regular hectic work week.

As a father of three, this time of year involves many toys and games. One of the toys my children really enjoy was also a childhood favourite of mine-- lego. When I played with lego as a child they were mostly building blocks and what we built was determined by our imaginative capacities. So I would make airplanes, houses, etc.

Lego has changed a great deal since the 1970's (here is the Lego website). Lego is now sold in "themed packages" and comes with instructions! So last week I spent a few hours helping my son build a lego ship (this one here).

Rather than being something a child can build and re-build continuously, like the original lego, the new themed lego functions more as a model. You follow the instructions, build it, and then once it is built you can play with it (very delicately because Daddy's patience for putting these complex things back together is very limited!).

But unlike the original lego, where the possibilities of things to build was endless, the new lego encourages rule following and more fixed imaginative play. Of course this is a great marketing strategy. For once the child has built the designed construction, which is typically extremely complex and time-consuming, there is little incentive to take it apart and play with it. If you want to build something else you buy another themed lego set, thus maximizing profits but minimizing the benefits of the traditional lego experience. I wonder what impact this might have on children as they develop later in life.

I often struggle to come up with ideas for the kid's presents. I want to choose something they will (a) enjoy and (b) something that will last (at least a couple of months rather than hours). But finding something with longevity is a real challenge. Many toys today are made with very cheap materials, or are simply poorly made, so many of the toys we have bought over the past few years break within just a few days (I doubt if any toys made today would survive a century to be featured on a show like The Antiques Roadshow, which is one of my favourite shows to watch).

But the other challenge is that children can often lose interest in certain toys. This is probably a combination of having a surplus of toys (provided by loving family members and friends) coupled with the fact that many toys today are compelling "gimmicks", but not lasting toys. They appear to be a good toys (the packaging and advertising is effective), but don't pass the muster when actually played with. They simply don't engage a child enough for them to play with them for a sustained period. Children grow, their interests change, and what was fun to play with when 3 might not interest them in the slightest by age 4.

[[In fact, as I was writing this last paragraph my youngest son brought me his Mr Potato Head "darth tader" to put together, which is a real hit this year for him. I think Mr Potato Head is a great toy, and my older sons also have fun making funny faces with it. And we all love this video:




This year I decided to get my kids something different- a white board (in addition to the "regular" suspects like some lego and video games). I realize that this won't strike many as something for kids to play with as it is something they use in school every day (indeed I didn't include it with the presents, I just put it up in the living room and encouraged them to draw on it). But having the opportunity to make drawings on the wall of your own living room will, I hope, help tap their creative and imaginative minds.

The image above is one of the first pictures that my two older sons did on the white board. I also utilize the white board to make some more formal educational activities more fun, like adding and subtracting, printing and writing, etc. Doing these activities while standing and holding a marker can be more fun that sitting at a table with a pencil in hand (which is what they do all day at school).

Moving from the themes of toys and childhood games to play for adults, I will address the themes of cinema and music. Over the past few weeks I have seen a diverse range of movies, both in the cinema and ones we rented at home. I saw Invictus which was an excellent movie. It demonstrated the power of play to help unite people. I also saw a bunch of mediocre comedies and the new Sherlock Holmes movie. Sherlock Holmes was good (I love anything to do with Holmes), though no one can come close to Jeremy Brett's classic portrayal of Holmes. The TV series with Brett is my all-time favourite show, just beating out my #2 show-- Peter Falk's Columbo. I have always been drawn to detective shows. I guess I like the idea of the right-- armed with reason, evidence and determination-- triumphing over deception, greed and evil.

Watching movies is a great form of imaginative play. Laughing out loud with everyone in a crowded movie theatre to a skit that makes an awkward social moment humorous helps us become more human, we become psychologically connected and continuous with others in important ways. Or shedding a tear for a tragedy, like Titanic (which I also watched at home), can help connect us to history and appreciate the fragility of life and the human condition. When engaged in a movie we experience freedom from time and diminished consciousness of self.

Cinema helps expose us to different emotional stimuli, and can enhance and broaden our imagination and emotional responses to different stimuli. A good movie, like a good book, can help you simulate the experience of many different lives and minds. This is intrinsically rewarding and also confers many important instrumental benefits-- developing our empathy, making more vivid our own cognitive limitations and limited perspective, etc.

The final kind of play I would like to briefly mention is music. As I noted in a previous post, I only recently re-kindled my love of music after two decades of neglect. So over this holiday break I have set myself the challenge of trying to learn this song on piano (I still have a ways to go). Messing around on the piano has inherent attraction for me-- I have much more improvisational potential trying to teach myself songs I actually like, which is a welcome change from the rigidity imposed by the lessons I took as a child. The rigidity of lessons was a large part of the reason I eventually gave up on the piano. I didn't like the music I was learning to play! So now I try to learn songs I enjoy, and that motivates me to try to improve.

Last night we had some friends over for New Year's and after the children played some piano for everyone the parents did some karaoke and guitar.

My two older sons have only been playing the piano for 5 months and they really enjoy playing (and taking lessons). My wife and I never pressure our children to play for friends and family, they are the ones that request we do a recital for everyone (which means my wife and I also play and we practice with the same beginner's book they have!).

Listening to my sons play the piano, whether they are creating their own music or practising the songs assigned for their lessons, brings me the most intense and lasting happiness I have ever experienced. Such moments stir many different emotions in my mind. I admire their determination and self-discipline. I empathise with their frustration when struggling to master a song, and when they play for others I admire their willingness to take the risk of making mistakes (in front of adults they do not know well) and the humility they display when others congratulate them on their performance.

One parent played an old favourite of mine on acoustic guitar- the WHO's Baba O'Riley.

Listening to a song that played a formative role in my own, somewhat rebellious youth (when I had hair down to my shoulders!), helps me transcend time and make vivid past ambitions, desires and anxieties. Forging such connectedness with one's past self can be intrinsically rewarding and help one develop as a moral agent.

Sadly contemporary moral philosophy places little emphasis on introspection, let alone play, friendship, music or love. The professionalization of the discipline has meant that moral "philosophy" (understood as "love of wisdom") has given way to love of the primacy of the concerns of careerism. The Ancients, like Plato and Aristotle, appreciated the importance of art and love.

Why, one might wonder, does a political philosopher spend so much time thinking about play when there are so many pressing societal concerns facing humanity? I realize that my preoccupation with play will sound like idle triviality to many in the field. But I believe that play is the key to the good life, and that contemporary capitalist societies are "play-deprived". We value work over play, career and money over family and our physical and mental health. And this creates an unhappy and unhealthy polity.

I am still working out my ideas concerning the diagnosis of play deprivation in our culture. And I find reflecting on my own personal experiences, as well as reading about the history and biology of play, helps sustain my enthusiasm for this neglected topic.

Even though my ideas on this topic are still in their early stages, I suppose I would be willing to make one general prescription that we can all consider as individuals. And that is to ask yourself-- what role does play play in your life? Reflecting on that question might help one prioritize play in their lives, whether it be forging stronger relationships with family and friends, exercising, reading, watching movies, listening to music or composing and playing music.

The world is full of fascinating people and cultures. And there are many diverse and rewarding ways of becoming psychologically connected and continuous with others (in both distant times and distant places, as well as those local and immediate). Doing so can help foster one's own eudemonia. The playful life is the good life! All children already know this. And we adults could learn a lot by following their example.

Cheers,
Colin

Where the Action Is: On the Site of the "Playful" Life (Part 4: Intellectual Play)

Ten years ago this month I defended my dissertation “Rights and Responsibilities: An Examination of Rawlsian Justice” here, and then I started my first full-time position at this department in Scotland.

I believe it is important for an academic to periodically reflect upon their experiences in academia and the trajectory of their career. I do this quite often. I find it helps me orient my research interests, learn from my mistakes, and think more creatively about my future. So to mark the 10th year anniversary of my transition from being "a grad student" to being a "faculty member" (though still a student in spirit, as I explain below), I thought I would write this rather lengthy post.

And I intend to interweave these personal reflections into my continuing narrative about the importance of play (Part 1 is here, Part 2 is here, and Part 3 is here). So what I have to say will draw from my own experiences in academia, but no doubt one could draw parallels to other types of jobs and experiences.

Let's start then with a brief re-cap of "play". What is play? And why play? Playful activities are those that possess the kind of properties Brown identifies. These are:

(1) play is apparently purposeless (done for its own sake).
(2) voluntary
(3) inherent attraction
(4) freedom from time
(5) diminished consciousness of self
(6) improvisational potential
(7) continuation desire

And we play because it helps us develop the diverse skill-set needed to flourish in a constantly changing and challenging world. Perhaps no other trait has as much survival value as a playful disposition. And humans, thanks to our large and plastic brains, are the biggest players of all.

My understanding of my own job, as an academic and, more specifically, political theorist and philosopher, is that I am in the business of promoting and celebrating intellectual play. I do this through teaching undergraduates, supervising graduate students, attending conferences, publishing papers and books, blogging and by conversing and interacting with people in my day-to-day life. I love my job; who wouldn't love to get paid to play? Every day I am grateful for the opportunities I have to engage in intellectual play and thus I seek to make the most of those opportunities and share the rich and diverse rewards of this play with others. After all, taxpayers pay my salary, and thus I take the responsibility of fostering intellectual play very seriously.

Just as a brief aside: I haven't always lived the charmed life of an academic. Before becoming a full-time academic my previous occupations included office cleaner, factory worker, dish washer, cleaner and then line worker in a pig slaughter factory, photo developing, mobile washer, directing traffic in construction zones, amongst other things. And these experiences, many of which were also enjoyable and rewarding, played an important and formative role in fuelling my desire to pursue the risky (jobs in my field are pretty scarce) and sometimes turbulent (you have to be willing to move where the jobs are) life of intellectual play that I now enjoy.

When I first began university as an undergraduate in 1990 I was actually registered in engineering rather than the humanities. As the first person in my family to get a university degree, my parents hoped I would pursue a degree that would get me a good job. And engineering seemed like a safe bet. But in my last year of high school I took one (and only one) course that wasn't a math or science course. It was a history class that had a section on the history of political ideas. So we covered Marx and Mill. I loved in. And when I started my first week of University in engineering I recall one of the professors saying that perhaps the most important questions we could consider did not involve how to build stronger bridges or faster computers. But rather they involved figuring out what constitutes a good society and the responsibilities we have to others. That professor inspired me. Indeed, his lecture motivated me to switch from engineering to the humanities after just the first week of term. And instead of taking calculus, chemistry and physics, I ended up taking courses in political science, history, philosophy and art history. My life was changed forever.

When people ask me what I do for a living, the exchange typically focuses on what political theory is, and what it is for (e.g. what can students do with it in terms of a job). Over the last few years this exchange has grown less awkward (at least from my perspective) as I have become more convinced of the importance of the lasting value of intellectual play (and political theory is an important form of this play). So here are the typical questions I am asked, and what I am now inclined to say in response to them:

Q: What do you do for a living?

Me: I teach at the University.

Q: What do you teach?

Me: Political theory.

Q: What is that?

Me: [long answer here] I am interested in political ideals, like equality and justice. I also teach students about the history of political thought, so thinkers like Plato and Marx. [I often also mention my interest in aging research, which also takes the conversation in interesting and surprising directions, but I won't address that here]

Q: What can students do with that?

Me: Hopefully they will think more clearly, consistently and imaginatively about the kind of society they want to live in.

Q: Why?

Me: So that our society can be better than it would otherwise be if students were not encouraged to think clearly, consistently and imaginatively about the kind of society they want to live in.

Q: But what job will they get with that?

Me: I don't know... I do believe the skill-set I aspire to help my students develop and hone can be transferred to many other areas of their lives, including any jobs they happen to take on during their lifetime. However, I am not a career counselor, I am a play counselor. My job is to ensure my students have the opportunity to engage in intellectual play. If I do my job successfully, my students will enjoy doing this (it is intrinsically rewarding) and their lives will be enriched by the experience. So will the lives of the people these students then influence when they discuss these ideas and aspirations with others. Play is infectious.

Q: Isn't it just a waste of time then? [this question is to be expected when one keeps in mind the first property of play--it is apparently purposeless]

Me: No, I don't think so. Before we expect students to decide which careers to pursue (and we should assume they will have more than one over their lifetime) they should have the opportunity to discover who they are, understand the world they live in and ponder the potential futures they hope to realize. Then they will be better positioned to tackle the issue of deciding what they want to spend most of their time doing after they leave university.

Do I have a "playful" role model that inspires me most? Yes. He was a Greek chap named Socrates, and he lived long ago and was persecuted for his playful mind. Socrates embodied the ideal of an intellectually playful mind. He was always asking questions and challenging the conventional wisdom of his contemporaries.

Many aspects of being a professor can help one keep the fire for "intellectual play" burning. In the ten years since defending my dissertation I have held positions at 6 different universities. From 1999-2000 I was here, then I spent two years (from 200-2002) here, one year here (2002-2003), five years in total here (2003-2008), a sabbatical year here and here (2006-7), and the last year (2008-present) here in my current position. In that time I have had the privilege to learn from a diverse range of wonderful colleagues and taught over 1500 bright students in Scotland, England and Canada. It has been an amazing adventure, one few jobs could match in terms of life and intellectual rewards.

Without a doubt the most important part of being a professor is having the opportunity to discuss and debate things with all the bright students one gets the privilege to teach. My students are the most important component of my own education. They inspire me to continue a life of intellectual play. They constantly expose me to fresh ideas and perspectives, and even though the faces of the students in my lectures change each year, their enthusiasm for knowledge, wisdom and debate remains a reassuring constant. And that is the fuel that keeps my passion for intellectual play burning.

All this brings me to this final and important thought. What constitutes real success for an academic? If you had asked me that question early on in my career I would have invoked certain "esteem" indicators that weigh heavily in tenure and promotion. So getting articles published in a particular journal, or the number of books published or impact one makes on a specific debate in the field. While I still do care greatly about these things, I no longer invoke them as the benchmark for real success.

So what do I think ought to constitute the benchmark of success for a play counselor? Well, most of the colleagues I have had over the years were much more senior than I. Some colleagues near retirement greet it with great enthusiasm. They no longer enjoy teaching and some had long abandoned any new research aspirations. But there are others who enter retirement at the other end of the spectrum. They retire with as much (if not more!) zeal for teaching and research as they had at the start of their career. My friend Jan is one such example of these rare, motivated individuals.

In a way the intellectual minds of these motivated scholars have remained "ageless"; they are just as curious and energetic as when they started grad school. And I believe that is the real benchmark of success for an academic. To retain one's enthusiasm and curiosity over a lifetime. If I end my career with the same zest with which I began graduate school then I believe my career will have been a genuine success. For I would have achieved "intellectual immortality" [I am using the term immortality loosely here to mean "the absence of a sustained decline in one's capacity and desire for intellectual play"; I do not mean immortality in the sense of "beyond this life on earth"!] I do not think a philosopher could aspire to achieve anything more worthwhile than that. And 10 years on I am cautiously optimistic about the prospect of my reaching that goal.

So the secret to "intellectual immortality" is play. I aspire to cultivate an appreciation of the playful life in my students by engaging their intellects and inspiring them to explore the value and viability of our possible political futures. I am not an ideologue. Education is not about brain-washing young minds to be "left-wing" or "right-wing", or to make my students (or myself) become a devotee of a particular theory or thinker. Real education encourages intellectual growth and exploration. And I aspire to grow and explore with my students. I learn much more from them than they learn from me.

I believe the good life is the playful life. Of course it encompasses much more than just intellectual play. But for now, I'll end things here with these brief personal reflections on the role of intellectual play in my life.

Cheers,
Colin

Where the Action Is: On the Site of the "Playful" Life (Part 2: Play and Politics)

This is Part 2 of this post.


Political scientists have long asked the question: "Why vote?" But this question presupposes a more fundamental question: "Why do anything?" This latter question requires us to consider what kind of animal humans actually are. The ultimate (or evolutionary) causes of human behaviour have typically been ignored by political scientists who invoke rational choice theory (e.g. Downs) or focus exclusively on the proximate causes of political behaviour. Here I want to link some parallels between play and politics.

Let us start then with the obvious question- of all the behaviours one could focus on, why focus on play? Politics is serious stuff (influencing the life prospects of billions of people in the world today), so how could I compare it to play?

Much of course depends on our understanding of both play and politics. When we think of play we typically think of children playing at the park or riding their bikes down the street. “Play is for kids, and politics is for adults” the common view tells us. I believe the common view is completely wrong. It is premised on an impoverished view of play (as well as politics).

Why focus on play? Stuart Brown provides the answer:

Of all animal species, humans are the biggest players of all. We are built to play and built through play. When we play, we are engaged in the purest expression of our humanity, the truest expression of our individuality. Is it any wonder that often the times we feel most alive, those that make up our best memories, are moments of play? (5)

So what, exactly, is play? Brown resists providing an all-inclusive, succinct definition. "Play is preconscious and preverbal-it arises out of ancient biological structures that existed before our consciousness or ability to speak" (15). Brown does identify some general properties typical of play. These are:

(1) play is apparently purposeless (done for its own sake).
(2) voluntary
(3) inherent attraction
(4) freedom from time
(5) diminished consciousness of self
(6) improvisational potential
(7) continuation desire

My comments on play and politics will focus primarily on (1) (though 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7 also come into play in important ways).

Play is apparently purposeless. And there are different kinds of play (see here): body play, object play, social play, imaginative and narrative play. And all these activities appear purposeless. We dance and sing, play soccer, read novels, forge friendships, watch scary movies, etc. because we enjoy them (not because we simply want to realize the instrumental benefits that often accompany some of them).

One reason our culture currently undervalues play is that playful activity is not perceived to promote useful activities (though it does do so). Rather than having citizens "playing" on weekends, most politicians and governments are more concerned with ensuring citizens spend their leisure time "spending and consuming" (no politicians are calling for a "play stimulus" to help our societies flourish!). Hence the epidemic of childhood and adulthood obesity and the erosion of common public spaces for physical and social play (“down with the parks, up with the malls”).

Rather than permitting their children to have the free and spontaneous time to "hang out with friends", today’s hyper-parents prefer to control and plan all aspects of their children's lives. A consequences of this is that their children may not develop the social skills needed to judge and finesse the "give-and-take" of different social groups. It is more prudent to learn how to develop and refine these skills when the stakes are relatively low (e.g. working out disagreements with a fremeny at high school) than in adulthood when the stakes involved in healthy social relations are typically much higher (e.g. at work or in a marriage).

So while play appears to serve no purpose, it actually serves many important purposes. Physical play (e.g. sports) raises our awareness of the importance of endurance and strength, as well as our physical limitations and vulnerability to injury. Playing sports can help develop balance, speed and agility. These types of play, which we find intrinsically valuable, also promote other capacities, like bodily health, thought and the senses.

Most physical play is also a form of social play. Playing helps socialize an individual, exposing them to the importance of negotiated rules, how to control their emotions and the benefits of cooperation. Social play helps build trust, communication, empathy, etc. Once a person participates as a member of a team they become psychologically connected and continuous with the team. The player’s own cognitive states track the trials and tribulations of the team. A team win can bring the individual player elation, while a loss disappointment and a determination to try even harder next time. Indeed, this phenomenon is not limited to just the direct participants of a sport. Even spectators who care passionately about a sport and team often experience similar levels and degrees of “connectedness” to a team. Play shapes our brain and stimulates many positive emotions.

This brings us to politics. What can political scientists, and political theorists in particular, learn from the study of play? A lot!

In his seminal book An Economic Theory of Democracy published in 1957, Anthony Downs argued that it was irrational to vote. And if it is irrational to vote, it must also be irrational to become informed about politics. This followed, for Downs and rational choice theorists like Downs, because voting incurs a cost on the voter but has no benefit given that one’s vote will not likely make a difference to the outcome of an election. But Downs’s account of human behaviour is an impoverished one because it fails to understand what kind of animal humans actually are (we are not Homo Economicus) and how our preferences are shaped by our evolutionary history.

I believe that much of our political behaviour, like voting, the desire to debate politics with others, etc., is a form of play behaviour. Aristotle argued that humans were political animals, and thus there is a rich tradition in political theory that permits one to integrate the insights from evolutionary biology and positive psychology with the traditional concerns of political theorists.

To help make the idea that politics is a form of play more vivid consider the following. A few friends get together for a dinner party. After enjoying some nice wine and pasta, the conversation turns, as it often does, to politics. The friends take turns highlighting what they see as the pros and cons of potential political leaders, the platforms of different political parties and the general challenges facing their society and the world at large (e.g. economic crisis, the environment, global poverty, threat of terrorism, etc.). At times the debate becomes rather heated, as opinions differ on many issues. Some feel particular politicians cannot be trusted. Others feel that certain parties lack the skills and expertise needed to meet the challenges of today. And disagreement also extends to what the most important challenges of today actually are.

Despite the sometimes heated exchanges (which included a few loud emotional outbursts and sharing of private experiences relevant to the issues under debate) and bruised egos, by the end of the evening the friends go back to their own homes still being friends. In fact, they all enjoyed the evening of debate and conversation (and wine!).

An outsider might ask- “What was the point of this experience? Little agreement was reached among the friends. Furthermore, none of them have much political clout so it does not really matter. No one is going to actually create public policies based on the opinions these folks expressed over dinner. So it was all just a waste of time!”

But this is an impoverished way of looking at what transpired that evening. What the friends engaged in is something that occurs at social gatherings, evening family meals and work places every day in a democratic society-- it was political play. Political play is both social and imaginative. It is social play in that it involves a plurality of people that are conversationally present; and it is imaginative play in that it also involves many people who are imaginatively (rather than conversationally) present. For example, the ideals and pragmatics articulated by political leaders might be invoked, or the interests of those more less advantaged, etc.

So when one asks: why engage in politics? The answer is two-fold.

One the one hand, many find the social and imaginative play typical of politics intrinsically rewarding. If we think about it we all know that, as just one person in a democracy of millions, we do not have the ability to sway the outcome of an election or determine public policy. None-the-less, we enjoy the psychological connectedness and continuity with others that we experience when we act and think that our one opinion does have such sway. We enjoy the challenge of trying to accurately perceive the emotional states and factual assumptions of others. And we enjoy learning how to respond, in a civic and yet persuasive way, to those states and assumptions.

The group of friends debating politics over wine one evening find it enjoyable to pretend they are the leaders of their political parties, or a Presidential candidate trying to win a televised debate, or even members of the G8 seeking a compromise on how to respond to the global financial crisis or climate change. We enjoy doing these things. Even if they appear, to the rational choice theorist, as “irrational”.

The second answer is to go beyond the subjective well being that participates might consciously experience when engaging in politics. Political play also helps us develop and refine skills that we need, as individuals, to flourish. In his book Play Stuart Brown tells the story of a renowned expert in animal behaviour who was asked why bears play. At first the expert responds that these things are pleasurable, and that is why bears play, birds sing and people dance. But the questioner persists. “Why, from a scientific point of view, do animals play?” The answer then given is this:

In a world continuously presenting unique challenges and ambiguity, play prepares these bears for an evolving planet. (29)

I think a similar answer can be given to Down’s challenge of “why vote?” If we understand the behaviour of voting to be simply one action in the social and imaginative play of a political life, then we really need to ask “why be political?” And my answer is:

In a world continuously presenting unique challenges and ambiguity, political play prepares humans for an evolving planet.

Following, participating in, and aspiring to resolve political debates helps promote the diverse skill-set (emotions, facts, etc.) needed for us to flourish in a constantly changing and unpredictable world. Listening to potential Presidential candidates debate issues of national security, the economy, education, etc., and then commenting on, re-enacting and improvising upon, their answers helps us get a better understanding of the challenges we face today and tomorrow, as well as inspire us to make the changes necessary to create a better world.

There is much more to be said here and no doubt I’ll add some more things down the road. But for now I just wanted to offer these tentative reflections on why play is an important issue for political theorists to seriously ponder. I cannot think of an more fascinating, important and yet neglected topic in the field than play.

Cheers,
Colin

Where the Action Is: On the Site of the "Playful" Life

Lately I have been swamped finishing off a few ongoing projects and preparing a new course for the Fall term. So I haven't posted many substantive posts for a few weeks now. Today I want to just say a few words about a newish interest I am now tackling (which arose out of my perfectionist ethics and interest in love) and plan to start seriously posting about here as I switch gears a bit with my research interests. And that new topic is...- PLAY!

I came across the topic of play via many overlapping personal and professional interests- my experiences as a husband and father, my interests in positive psychology, virtue ethics, evolutionary biology and deliberative democracy.

In particular I am interested in three big questions:

(1) what is play?
(2) why play? and
(3) what constitutes the "playful society"?

My fellow political philosophers might wonder why I have decided to concern myself with play. "Why not chose a topic like socio-economic inequality or multiculturalism?" they might ask. "Besides, how important is "play" anyways?" they might continue. One seldom hears political theorists (at least the theorists of today... the Ancient Greeks knew all too well the value and importance of play) worry about the health of play in a fair and humane society. But I beleive that is a reflection on the poverty of the discipline rather than being a reflection on the importance of play.

What is play? Play encompasses many different activities (physical play, social play, etc.) that help humans develop the emotional and intellectual skills necessary for flourishing. Play ranges from activities like learning to ride a bike to reading novels, dating, blogging and debating politics. I won't offer anything like a comprehensive definition of play here. But there are different kinds of play and the common features of these activities is that they are (a) enjoyable (b) often do not have an obvious immediate function (c) they can be energetically expensive, etc.

To bring home the magnitude of the stakes involved with play, consider what a society would be like that is devoid of play. Stuart Brown makes this point in his excellent new book Play and says:

It's not just an absence of games or sports. Life without play is life without books, without movies, art, music, jokes, dramatic stories. Imagine a world with no flirting, no day dreaming, no comedy, no irony. Such a world would be a pretty grim place to life. p. 6

In fact things would probably been even more dire than this. A world without play would probably come closer to Hobbes's description of life in the state of nature in Leviathan:

In such condition, there is no place for Industry; because the fruit thereof is uncertain: and consequently no Culture on the Earth; no Navigation, nor use of the commodities that may be imported by the Sea; no commodious Building; no Instruments of moving, and removing such things as require much force; no Knowledge of the face of the Earth; no account of Time; no Arts; no Letters; no Society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death; And the life of man, solitary, nasty, brutish and short.

So play is important! Why play? That is also a very important question, one that raises questions about human nature and the ultimate cause of our playful inclinations. I will post something more substantive on this in the future. For now the short answer is that play helps us live more successful and happy lives.

And that takes us to the really vital issue of what kinds of institutions and society help promote different forms of play. I'll post more thoughts about these issues in the weeks and months to come. But for now I highly recommend you watch Stuart Brown's excellent talk on play over at Ted Talks.

Cheers,
Colin

Where the Action Is: On the Site of the Playful Life (Part 7: In Pursuit of the Play Dividend)

This post in the latest installment in my series of posts on the importance of play

This morning I read this short article by Bertrand Russell entitled "In Praise of Idleness". As always, Russell is the perfect author to turn to for inspiration on bold and imaginative ideas.

So Russell's article has inspired me to write a post that brings together a number of themes I have been working on of late- namely, health, happiness and play. And that proposal is that the government ought to prioritize and implement what we might call the pursuit of the "Play Dividend".

What do I propose? We need to increase the opportunities for play at all stages of the human lifespan. The Play Dividend focuses on a two-fold strategy:

(1) reconceptualising the education of our children, so that play is an intricate part of their physical, social, imaginative and moral development; and

(2) to re-calibrate the balance between work and play in adulthood by reducing the number of hours (by an average of 2 hours a day) spent in paid employment. Instead of the standard full time workload of 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, the Play Dividend campaign would transform this to 6 hours a day, 5 days a week (or, alternatively, 7.5 hours for 4 days).

Such a proposal is, I believe, a modest yet feasible one that would help the population and governments more accurately appreciate and value the importance of the opportunities for leisure, family and play.

What would the benefits of the Play Dividend most likely be? I think there are at least 5 important identifiable benefits:

(1) A happier population
(2) A healthier population
(3) Healthier families
(4) More creative individuals and cultures
(5) 1-4 would bring enormous economic benefits.

Pursuing the Play Dividend ought to become a priority for all countries affluent enough to pursue and implement it. Yet, sadly, it is unlikely to get strong support (at least initially) from the very people who would benefit the most from it- the citizenry themselves. Why is there likely to be so much opposition to this proposal? No doubt there are many factors at play. I will briefly identify only a few.

One concern is simply economical- many people will be unwilling to give up the income they would lose by reducing the number of hours they work. They (falsely) believe that more money will bring them greater happiness, and the prevalence of this belief is thus a major obstacle to realizing the Play Dividend.

Advocates of the Play Dividend need to topple the myths upon which current economic policies are premised. Rather than simply assuming that growing a nation's GDP is the most important goal, we need a rival of the Aristotelian vision of politics as the science primarily concerned with eudaimonia (happiness). Advocates of the Play Dividend thus need to draw upon insights from philosophy and the findings of positive psychology in order to effectively pitch the proposal.

Another reason that many will object to the Play Dividend is identified by Russell in "In Praise of Idleness". Namely, that we are raised to believe that "work for work's sake" is a virtue and that play and leisure a vice. And this is why it is vital to instill a respect for the importance of play early in a child's education. If our children are raised to respect play and leisure they will treasure them throughout their whole life. Thus the Play Dividend can serve as the basis for an ambitious reform in education at all levels of schooling.

By the time a child finishes high school they should have developed at least one physical sport (e.g. sport like soccer, or running, or weight training, etc.) and one artistic endeavour (e.g. mastering a musical instrument, drama, culinary art, dance, etc.) to a level of enjoyment and achievement that they will stay with them for the rest of their lives. These activities would, in effect, be an intricate part of their identity. And teachers and the education curriculum should be as determined to ensure that all children finish school with these two skills as they are concerned that all students develop the skills necessary to enter the workforce (e.g. read, write, math, science, etc.).

Envision your 13 year-old child coming home from school and saying "I learned how to cook chicken Parmesan today". Or imagine a homework assignment that entails helping to teach your child how to cook the family an omelet breakfast on Sunday or help plan the next family vacation.

The pursuit and celebration of leisure and social and imaginative play ought to be integral part of our development, from childhood through retirement.

Sadly, time for family and play is becoming more and more scarce. This report notes that, over the past 20 years, the amount of time women spend with their families has declined by 39 minutes for the typical working day and for men the decline was 45 minutes. The reduced working hours of the Play Dividend campaign would help parents and spouses re-claim that valuable time back. What could be more important than having more time to spend with loved ones? You can't put a monetary value on this time and yet our culture has become so impoverished that we have let the most important opportunities to our health and happiness erode. Namely, our relationships with loved ones. Help reverse this sad state of affairs. Demand your government support the Play (or call it the "Family" or "Leisure" or "Creativity") Dividend.

Here are some inspirational Ted talks that endorse the values and principles which underpin the Play Dividend campaign:







Cheers,
Colin

Where the Action Is: On the Site of the "Playful" Life (Part 5: Children at Play)

Lately I haven't been able to keep up with my series of posts on play. Teaching a new course both this and next term, coupled with taking on some new administrative responsibilities, and polishing some other pieces of work, all necessitated putting my research on play on the back burner for a few months.

So as a treat to myself I have put aside some time over the holiday break to read this book, entitled Children at Play. Like aging, I believe play is among one of the most important neglected issues of our times.

What I intend to with my blog is make a note of some important parts of Chudacoff's (CH) book so I can easily refer back to them in the future. So below are my notes on the first 50 pages of the book.

The book will focus on children between the ages of 6-12. And in the intro CH notes Mark Twain's definition of play: "Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do. Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do" (1). CH notes that it is almost impossible to provide a single, acceptable definition of play.

For Twain's character Tom Sawyer (pictured above), play is, notes CH, spontaneous, joyous activity. But CH notes that play experts also emphasize the functional, utilitarian qualities of play. Play helps an individual acquire vital social, emotional, physical and cognitive skills (1).

The psychologist Garvey identifies 4 components of children's play: (1) it is pleasurable; (2) play has no extrinsic value; (3) play is freely chosen; and (4) play involves active engagement on the part of the player (3).

And CH considers 4 components of play: (a) the environment (setting where play occurs), (b) the materials, (c) dramatis personae, and (d) freedom (how much control a child has over the activity.

Chapter 1 of the book considers play in America from 1600-1800. CH distinguishes between different racial groups- whites, African and Indian peoples- as well as boys and girls. Most play during the colonial era took place outdoors. Only a small minority of the population lived in cities.

Ch summarizes the situation of preadolescence children during this era as follows:

...While Indians, African Americans and whites made important contributions to the family economy, they were at times able to build their own play culture, more alternative than oppositional, around a mostly unstructured kind of play. Whether roaming through woods and interacting with nature along the way, or creating fantasies and games with self-fashioned playthings, or simply socializing with siblings and, when available, other children, young people in their preteen years manifested a definite play instinct. This is not to deny that challenges and hardhsip filled their lives; they toiled in fields and households, they fought illness and sorrow, they endured dry summers and harsh winters, and they struggled with warnings of dire consequences for defying parents and God. Still, they tried, and sometimes succeeded, to follow their own "inclinations" (38).

That's all for now in terms of a few notes from the Intro and Ch. 1. I hope to do another post or two on the rest of the book over the holiday period.

Cheers,
Colin

The Detective's Virtues

This post is a contribution to two onging blog threads, the virtue epistemology thread (part 1, part 2 and part 3) and the thread on "Where the Action is: On the Site of the Playful Life".

The joys of parenthood are many. One of parenthood's greatest pleasures is that it provides a parent with the valuable opportunity to re-discover your own childhood (loving and caring for young ones helps keep you feeling young!).

For me, as a father to three young boys, I have re-discovered the joys of trying to learn the piano again, bike riding, playing video games, fishing, just to name a few.

Recently I re-discovered my favourite books from my early youth, when I first started reading (at least reading for fun, not for school or church).

The series was called the Three Investigators. I remember reading my first book, this one, when I was 11 years old. I was instantly hooked. I then purchased and read almost every book in the collection.

For the last quarter of a century my collection of Three Investigator books collected dust. But over the last few months they have come alive again. I introduced these books to my two eldest sons, and starting reading the series to them. And now they are hooked! We try to spend 30 minutes each weeknight reading about the adventures of Jupiter, Pete and Bob. Reliving these stories as an adult, and sharing them with my children, is a special treat.

Reflecting on my attraction to this series of books made me realize something about myself. Almost all of my favourite books and TV shows involved detectives! Another of my favourite book series was Encyclopedia Brown. And my favourite TV shows growing up included Magnum PI, Simon and Simon and Murder She Wrote.

More recently I have fallen in love with Midsomer Murders. And my two "all-time"/"hands down" favourite shows, which I still watch to this day every time I get the chance, are Columbo and this series of Sherlock Holmes. And my kids also love watching these two shows with me.

So what is my attraction to these detective shows and stories? Why do I have such an interest in seeing how the human mind can solve life's mysteries? To be honest I don't know. I just enjoy it. And I never realized how important they have been to my childhood and adulthood until very recently.

In Virtues of the Mind Zagzebski (1996, 114) characterizes the "detective's virtues" as an intellectual virtue. More specifically, she defines this virtue as "thinking of coherent explanations of the facts". The detective's virtues also require the exercise of other intellectual virtues- like the ability to recognize the salient facts and sensitivity to details (perhaps best exemplified by Sherlock Holmes); Intellectual humility (better exemplified by Columbo and Mrs Fletcher than Sherlock Holmes); Intellectual perseverance, diligence, care and thoroughness (traits often demonstrated by Magnum PI); and adaptability of intellect(a trait exemplified by Simon and Simon's ability to take on different identifies, and balance their different temperaments, as circumstances necessitated).

I believe that exposure to, and an appreciation for, the detective's virtues can help enhance our moral and intellectual development in important ways. These virtues extend far beyond obvious instances of the detective's virtues (e.g. Sherlock Holmes solving the mystery of a crime), for they also apply to science (e.g. unlocking the mysteries of our biology), democracy (e.g. unlocking the mystery of phronesis) and love (e.g. unlocking the mystery of human relationships and emotions).

The detective virtues are also important to political theory. I hope to blog about this particular point in detail later.

Cheers,
Colin

Where the Action Is: On the Site of the "Playful" Life (Part 8: A Return to Play)

For the past 3 years or so my interest and passion for the topic of play (as well as the activity itself) has been growing. Recall the series of blog posts on play- part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7- I have been meaning to add to the series for a while now, but have been bogged down some other commitments that are now winding down. So I plan to return to the topic of play in a serious way over the coming months. This morning I came across this talk, which helped fuel the fire in my heart for the importance of play. In that talk the artist below is featured, singing about the video game Halo. I was so moved by her song that I looked up the full performance, which is below: My interest in play is also constantly fuelled by my 3 children. We all play (amongst other things) video games together. It is an amazing adventure. We interact with people from all over the world, venturing on different exciting quests. Our favourite game at the moment is Roblox, which I may post something about in the future. But another favourite game of my older sons is Minecraft. This trailer video made by a player of the game captures the mystery and excitement of playing the game: More to follow on play in the future.... Cheers, Colin

Where the Action Is: On the Site of the "Playful" Life (Part 3: Science Article)

This is part 3 of my posts on play (Part One, Part Two).

Perhaps no other intervention can help an individual realize the importance of play more than becoming a parent or grandparent. Children, unlike most adults, are unabashed about their desire to play and expressing the joy play gives them. We thus have a lot to learn from children. Sadly, as adults we tend to suppress these primal urges and emotions, and often view play as wasteful and unproductive.

The "Life & Career" section of the latest issue of Science has this excellent article that describes the valuable lessons one scientist has learned from her grandaughter. Here is an excerpt:

Among her many talents, my granddaughter Sophie, who has just turned 2*, has a clear vision of what would make her happy, coupled with the persuasive skills and executive function to make it happen. "Slide?" she says, cocking her head to one side, meaning the nearby park in New York City, which has slides, swings, and a sandbox. I'm tired and would really rather not, having planned a quieter evening of baby-sitting her, with books and toys. I try to distract her but to no avail. "Slide," she repeats, forgoing the questioning tone and nodding her head repeatedly, as if to hypnotize me into agreement. To remove all obstacles, she fetches her sand pail, wedges her shovel and ball neatly into it, and repeats, even more assertively: "Slide, Tayta" (i.e., Grandma). "Go to slide." She brings me my shoes and my purse and waits expectantly at the door. Of course, I succumb.

....She pours a bucketful of sand over her feet with glee. "Tayta, take off shoes," she commands, with the repeated nodding. "In for a penny," I think to myself, and off come my shoes. Of course, I'm persuaded to stick them in deeper as Sophie pours her bucketfuls onto them. Amazingly, the sand feels great on my tired feet. I would have never imagined sitting in the middle of New York City, wearing black business pants, with my feet bare, burrowed into the sand. But it makes her happy, I think to myself, with a smile. It makes me happy, I realize! Then I have an odd thought--where is "happy" in my brain?

....On that day in the park, I realized that Sophie knows something essential that we adults tend to forget: Having fun is important! It entails unexpected sensations, novel situations, body contact, and physical challenge (as long as these are not extreme or threatening).

Cheers,
Colin

Main Menu (March 2010)

Recent items on "In Search of Enlightenment" include:

(1) Health Innovations: Safety and Equality
(2) Aging Research and Making the Future Vivid
(3) The Myth of "Homo Primaeva"
(4) Talk on Enhancement and the "Status Quo" Bias
(5) Where the Action Is: On the Site of the "Playful" Life (Part 6: Families at Play)

Cheers,
Colin