The Ambiguity of Play

摘要: Every child knows what it means to play, but the rest of us can merely speculate. Is a kind adaptation, teaching skills, inducting into certain communities? power, pursued in games prowess? Fate, deployed chance? Daydreaming, enacted art? Or is just frivolity? Brian Sutton-Smith, proponent play theory, considers each possibility as has been proposed, elaborated, and debated disciplines from biology, psychology, education metaphysics, mathematics, sociology. Sutton-Smith focuses on theories rooted seven distinct rhetorics - ancient discourses fate, communal identity, frivolity modern progress, imaginary, self. In an analysis that moves question development implications for Western work ethic, he explores values, historical sources, interests have dictated terms forms put forth discourse's objective theory. This reveals more distinctions disjunctions than affinities, with one striking exception: however different their descriptions interpretations rhetoric quirkiness, redundancy, flexibility. light this, suggests might provide model variability allows natural selection. As form mental feedback, nullify rigidity sets after successful adaption, thus reinforcing animal human variability. Further, shows how these discourses, despite differences, offer components new social science play.