After reading this week’s articles, I realized just how much the concept of “play” is overlooked in our daily lives. Before switching back into history, I was a psychology major. To separate the psychological and scientific concepts of play from the more abstract and contextual ideas of it as seen in a more historical manner was challenging. Play, to me, is a way of escaping the doldrums of every day life. Huizinga mentions that play is an outlet for a variety of things. For example, it is, in a sense, a nostalgic outlet for adults to experience those emotions or feelings they had playing as a child. Play, in terms of child development, is a vital piece to learning. As a result, the different ways we played as a child helped shape how we are today. Different people play in different ways.

Play happens because both humans and animals need reinforcement. Take a gambler for instance, every time they hit the jackpot, or win, they are rewarded. Thus, they return to their desired game. It is a variable-ratio schedule of reinforcement. The same goes for many games. You never know what the dice will roll. Simple games such as tag, hopscotch, or ninja provide reinforcement in the form of fun. Similarly, In Play Matters, the author mentions that “play is never a task”, suggesting that it is something that is always voluntary. The author also mentions play-communities. I always imagine games such as World of Warcraft and the like when I think of play-communities. As congenial and hunky-dory as a “play community” sounds, I believe it can be destructive to one’s health-specifically the video game community. If one’s social outlet and basis is rooted in a video game with no actual human to human interaction, the social foundation of that individual could potentially be compromised.

To close, I think that games, play, sports, etc. are brilliant and necessary things to partake in in order to live a healthy life. However, they must not become the center of one’s every day agenda in that they neglect life’s other wonders.