The Elements of Play: Toward a Philosophy and a Definition of Play.

Abstract

Scholars conventionally find play difficult to define because the concept is com- plex and ambiguous. The author proffers a definition of play that takes into con- sideration its dynamic character, posits six basic elements of play (anticipation, surprise, pleasure, understanding, strength, and poise), and explores some of their emotional, physical, and intellectual dimensions. He argues for a play ethos that recognizes play is evolution based and developmentally beneficial. He insists, how- ever, that, at its most elemental, play always promises fun. In this context, any activity that lacks these six elements, he contends, will not fully qualify as play. Key words: definition of play; elements of play; universe of playPlay is a roomy subject, broad in human experience, rich and various over time and place, and accommodating pursuits as diverse as peekaboo and party banter, sandlot baseball and contract bridge, scuba diving and Scrabble. Play welcomes opposites, too. Play can be free-ungoverned by anything more complicated than choosing which stick is best to improvise a light saber-or fixed and codified, as in those instances when soccer players submit to scrupu- lous ?laws.? Play can take active or passive form and can be vicarious or engag- ing-and so we recognize play in both the spectator and the actor. In fact, at play we may even become both spectator and actor, straining with an air-guitar at a concert for example or sympathetically enacting the motions of the quarter- back's long bomb during the big game.1 We have no trouble recognizing play in the premeditated prank or the instant wisecrack. And then play can be solitary or social-as enjoyed by a woodcarver at his bench or a quilter during her bee. We can find play in the spaces in between, too, as children engage imaginary friends without quite being alone or as gamers play together on the Internet without meeting face-to-face.We can take in play at a glance in these instances, following its course and knowing it confidently when we see it, but observation does not automatically bring us closer to refining the concept. In fact, the opposite seems to be the case: the settings change, the play interval varies, the intensity rises and falls, and then intent and other human circumstances shift and morph. The more we look and listen, the more we feel our confidence slip away. But if our eyes fail us, perhaps the mind can compensate. Can we imagine a satisfying definition, one true of play wherever and whenever there are players and however they play? Can we specify ideal, unvarying, dependable attributes of play?Many thinkers have proposed so, noting salient aspects of play. Gordon Burghardt, for example, in his searching The Genesis of Animal Play (2005), identified twelve characteristics of play. And Thomas Henricks, in his thought- ful Play Reconsidered (2006), noted that scholars have tended to isolate volition, pretending, ordering, seclusion, and secrecy.2 Boil the lists down, and five basic qualities emerge: play is apparently purposeless, voluntary, outside the ordinary, fun, and focused by rules. Identifying the attributes of play like this can prove very useful if we understand them as criteria, and once having so identified these criteria, apply them as standards.Thus, first, play exists for its own sake. Players do not aggressively seek out some other purpose to play. In fact, trying to twist play to an end vitiates it, making it seem less and less like play. Second, players play of their own accord. Third, play is special and set apart. Sometimes players reserve a particular setting for playing, and no matter how different from each other, the field, the stadium, the woods, the rink, the court, and the ring all serve as playgrounds. Fourth, play is fun, a criterion not so simple as it sounds because people can find fun in a dizzying variety of activities. And fifth, players play by rules. Rules are not just for organizing games and making them fair, they keep games interesting and keep games going. …