The Benefits of Playtime
March 17th 2008 11:22
Terry PRatchett once wrote that "in a universe full of wonders, it took humanity to invent boredom." The paradoxical upshot of this statement is that boredom, which causes brain cells to painfully atrophy and die, lead us to discover and refine the art of entertainment in order to stimulate the brain cells. That being said reality television, while potentially being amusing, has been found to be absolute brain poison.
In Gary Larson's book "There's a Hair In My Dirt!" it is put forward that young animals play because this stimulates the growth of neural pathways and strengthens their mental acuity. What has been found in most recent studies, is that there are only a few animals that have a high degree of self awareness. Dolphins and elephants have been found to be the most self-aware after humans, and are some of the most playful and trainable animals that we've found so far. Clearly, boredom is not simply a human trait, but is shared by animals in whom there are desires that go beyond survival.
Also in recent studies, signs have been found that many RTS (Real Time Strategy) games assist in developing thinking skills. Watching a good RTS gamer play another reveals an often highly skilled exhibition of micro-management, resource management, situational awareness and the almost sixth sense of watching them anticipate each other's movements and tactics. Realising that this behaviour is a part of something deep within our psyche of finding a dull silent moment and proceeding to fill it with something noisy and interesting, we are forced to look at ourselves and make a few realisations. The first is that man is quite different from the majority of animals. We may look at other animals and see similarities between us and them, but this is often because we attribute to them what we see in ourselves. The other is that man is not comfortable with silence or idleness.
The fact that our brains not only require but also desire stimulation is a sign that we are not simply a random grab bag of bits and pieces. We have been given brains in order to use them as best we can. Our boredom is a sign that we desire something better than the mundane.
JZ
In Gary Larson's book "There's a Hair In My Dirt!" it is put forward that young animals play because this stimulates the growth of neural pathways and strengthens their mental acuity. What has been found in most recent studies, is that there are only a few animals that have a high degree of self awareness. Dolphins and elephants have been found to be the most self-aware after humans, and are some of the most playful and trainable animals that we've found so far. Clearly, boredom is not simply a human trait, but is shared by animals in whom there are desires that go beyond survival.
Also in recent studies, signs have been found that many RTS (Real Time Strategy) games assist in developing thinking skills. Watching a good RTS gamer play another reveals an often highly skilled exhibition of micro-management, resource management, situational awareness and the almost sixth sense of watching them anticipate each other's movements and tactics. Realising that this behaviour is a part of something deep within our psyche of finding a dull silent moment and proceeding to fill it with something noisy and interesting, we are forced to look at ourselves and make a few realisations. The first is that man is quite different from the majority of animals. We may look at other animals and see similarities between us and them, but this is often because we attribute to them what we see in ourselves. The other is that man is not comfortable with silence or idleness.
The fact that our brains not only require but also desire stimulation is a sign that we are not simply a random grab bag of bits and pieces. We have been given brains in order to use them as best we can. Our boredom is a sign that we desire something better than the mundane.
JZ
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