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The Serious Business of Playfulness

Alexandre Enkerli

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Feb. 09, 2011

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Playfulness.in/People Credit: Wilfredor

Playfulness.in/Nature Credit: Adam.J.W.C.

Playfulness.in/Childhood Credit: Miika Silfverberg

Playfulness.in/Groups Credit: Yana Harmila Haron

Playfulness.in/Ritual Credit: R Católico

Playfulness.in/Humanity Credit: Heurtelions

Playfulness.in/
Credit: Edmund S. Valtman
Seriousness

Playfulness.in/Power Credit: DannyRamadan

Playfulness.in/Love Credit: Derek Cabellon

Playfulness.in/Humour Credit: Jennifer Leigh

Playfulness.in/
Credit: David Shankbone
Performance

Playfulness.in/Rehearsal Credit: Yoko Honma

Playfulness.in/Beta Credit: Benutzer:Connum

Playfulness.in/Failure Credit: Scott Kveton

Playfulness.in/Spectacle Credit: Rico Shen

Playfulness.in/Action Credit: Ahmed Rabea

Playfulness.in/
Credit: michael höfner
Improvisation

Playfulness.in/Freedom Credit: Stephen

Playfulness.in/Life Credit: SingleHop, Inc.

Playfulness.in/Sum Credit: Robert Wright

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The Serious Business of Playfulness

Feb. 09, 2011

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Download to read offline

Let's play!
Seriously, let us play!
Life isn't a game but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be playful. After all, there's a lot more to playfulness than fun and games. Creativity, freedom, friendship… What are we without a sense of play?

Alexandre Enkerli

Ethnographer, Technopedagogue, Learning Pathways Strategist

Let's play!
Seriously, let us play!
Life isn't a game but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be playful. After all, there's a lot more to playfulness than fun and games. Creativity, freedom, friendship… What are we without a sense of play?

License: CC Attribution-ShareAlike License

More Related Content

The Serious Business of Playfulness

1. Playfulness.in/People Credit: Wilfredor
2. Playfulness.in/Nature Credit: Adam.J.W.C.
3. Playfulness.in/Childhood Credit: Miika Silfverberg
4. Playfulness.in/Groups Credit: Yana Harmila Haron
5. Playfulness.in/Ritual Credit: R Católico
6. Playfulness.in/Humanity Credit: Heurtelions
7. Playfulness.in/ Credit: Edmund S. Valtman Seriousness
8. Playfulness.in/Power Credit: DannyRamadan
9. Playfulness.in/Love Credit: Derek Cabellon
10. Playfulness.in/Humour Credit: Jennifer Leigh
11. Playfulness.in/ Credit: David Shankbone Performance
12. Playfulness.in/Rehearsal Credit: Yoko Honma
13. Playfulness.in/Beta Credit: Benutzer:Connum
14. Playfulness.in/Failure Credit: Scott Kveton
15. Playfulness.in/Spectacle Credit: Rico Shen
16. Playfulness.in/Action Credit: Ahmed Rabea
17. Playfulness.in/ Credit: michael höfner Improvisation
18. Playfulness.in/Freedom Credit: Stephen
19. Playfulness.in/Life Credit: SingleHop, Inc.
20. Playfulness.in/Sum Credit: Robert Wright

Editor's Notes

Some of us like to play\nIn fact, there are people who feel like they were born to play\nBut playfulness isn't exclusive and it's not just about playahs\n
As we keep saying in social sciences, playing is the natural thing to do.\nY'know, young animals try out their roles through play so\nThere isn't anything strange about playfulness\n
Of course, human children play as well and\nwe tend to associate playfulness with kids.\nSome playfulness is lost as we grow older but, basically, we keep on playing\n
The thing about playing, though, is that\nit's usually more fun to do with others.\nSure, we may be introverts, but\nwe still want to connect with fellow human beings.\n
And there are contexts for deep connection through play.\nTo mess up with Weber's "Protestant Work Ethic," I'd say that\nThere's such a thing as a "Catholic Play Ethic."\n
But it goes much further than that.\nAs an anthropologist, I'd say that\nPlayfulness is such an important part of culture that\nIt almost defines what we are as a species\n
A major insight about play, from Huizinga, is that\nWhile seriousness may be a lack of playfulness\nIt doesn't follow that play would be a lack of seriousness\n
Playfulness is more than fun and games.\nSome of what we play out is very serious indeed.\nPolitics, death, religion.\nIt'd be easy to be dark about it all.\n
There are times when we just want to fool around\nBut playfulness is more than instant gratification \nIt's not selfish hedonism, Mr. Cheney\n
Oh, sure, I may be\nPlaying with you\nTeasing you\nPulling your leg\nBut it's not about me or about my pleasure, y'know\nIt's about us\n
Performers are responsible for evaluation by audiences\nAs sociologists say, we play out our roles\nLike Sammy Davis Jr., as soon as we're out, we're on, baby, we're on!\n
But there's something about playfulness which is just the opposite of performance\nIt's easier to be playful when we're not being judged\nIn a way, playfulness is preparation for performance\n
But, y'know\nPlayfulness isn't a work in progress\nSome iterative process\nA "release early, release often" kind of thing\nIt's more like a "steady flow of creativity"\n
Obviously, a lot can go awfully wrong when we're being playful.\nThe idea, though, is that we don't let that get us down\nThe show must go on, man!\n
'cuz life, sex, and art aren't spectator sports\nAfter all, They're much more fun to do than to watch\nI sure hope there aren't voyeurs in this room&#x2026;\n
To be really playful, you need to get your hands dirty\nAs we say in French, you don't gain anything if you don't try anything\n
Being playful, we learn to think on our feet\nTo take (civil) liberties with established rules\nTo challenge structures in place\n
In turn, theres something truly liberating about playfulness\n"unleashing creativity" isn't about letting an animal out of us\nIt's about letting us out of our chains\n
I really don't think of life as a game\nSure, there are those who keep scores\nBut we all end up at the same point\nWhether it's through dysentery or old age\n
There's a lot to be gained\nIf we think of life\nOutside the zero-sum game\nBeing playful,\nWe're all gaining more than\neach of us is putting in.\n