Role of Fun and Play
In this section, I want to discuss actions which I feel to be intentionally rewarding aspects of life--activities of fun and play. Such activities, by their very nature often lead to a feeling of exuberance and joy, and often involve other people. Specifically, I’ll focus this section on play, which I take to imply social interactions and activities involving each person intending to achieve a particular goal.
I find this commonality between all forms of play, whether it be over-the-board chess, a game of badminton, tag, or even board games. Each person involved in the play has a particular goal. If the play is competitive, then different players have different objectives, whether it be to capture the opponent’s king, chase after someone trying to touch them, or not letting the shuttle reach the floor. I also notice that there are some forms of play in which the goals are the same for all individuals involved, such as attempting to climb onto a tree.
The most apparent effect on mood that I observe of fun and play is its mysterious ability to elevate mood and distract me from other, more mundane aspects of life. For example, heading out to meet my neighborhood friends on long summer evenings has been a childhood habit of mine during the long vacations. Whether it be as simple as a game of tag or hide and seek, or more complicated games like football or basketball, the process of playing with others is often rewarding.
My guess as to why engaging in play feels so rewarding as well as distracting is its nature to assign us a temporary and well-defined goal. In wrestling, for example, the wrestler’s objective is to push the opponent out of the ring. Particularly in dynamic or fast-paced games, where the score is volatile, and the outcome of the came easily fluctuates, the game causes the players to maintain focus.
Another aspect which I feel is central to play is its appeal to our baser, more fundamental nature as humans to meet our determination to achieve a particular outcome with greater physical involvement. In games like tag and wrestling, physical exertion plays a large role in one’s success in the game. In more complicated games like chess, while mental calculation and analysis is the primary determinant of success, I notice players often get emotionally vested, perhaps as a consequence of the body’s fight-or-flight instinct kicking in, and thus rejoice upon victory and feel dejected upon loss.
One interesting implication of play is how it affects the social structure that we form with our playmates. Perhaps play influences who the playmates collectively regard as superior in the game, and who to accept as their leader. I feel that this concept holds true particularly among younger children, in whom the feral side of human nature is more expressive, but also among adults, through the social structures formed in jobs and family. To take a simple example, in a game of wrestling, (for, I truly believe this is most fitting example, as it reveals much about social structures in part because i. the loser of the game is, both physically and literally, humiliated, as he ends up pinned or knocked over on the floor and because ii. it is a physical struggle, and is more representative of the conflicts between the less evolved species that humans evolved from) there exists a transitive nature of the relationship between the playmates. If I can defeat Neil, and Dylan can defeat me, then there is a clear hierarchy from top to bottom, whereby Neil and I both acknowledge Dylan as superior in the activity of wrestling. Wrestling is also an interesting example to consider because inconcrete tension or enmity between two playmates, as often exists at times, can be channeled through the medium of physical force. The conclusion is clear--one person is the loser, and the other is the winner, and thus must be respected within the social hierarchy.
I’d like to bring up “Lord of the Flies”. Having read the story recently, I realized that the novel makes implicit statements regarding the viability of rule by physical force, and the absence of clear hierarchy that can serve as the ultimate deciding factor in civilized society, before madness ensues. The novel showcases a variety of scenes that exhibit unresolved tension and unsettled disputes between children on the deserted island--conflict between Jack and Ralph, inability to enforce established rules, unestablished social hierarchy, the intolerance and forceful shutdown of opposing viewpoints--that is, the brutal killing of Piggy, and the ultimate destruction of the very homes that gave them food and shelter. Because of the boys’ frequent resortment to violence as a solution to their problems, such as the killing of pigs and fights between the boys, matters on the island often end up worse than when the conflict began. Furthermore, the fact that there are only boys on the island serves as a further testament to the idea that such a society so prudishly obsessed with violence and unable to civilly govern itself cannot be passed on to posterity, as no girls exist to pass on the society.
Having expressed these ideas, I feel that the main takeaway expressed through the novel is the idea that human society is predicated upon civil rule, tolerance for opposing viewpoints, and a clear recognition and acceptance of authority and social hierarchy. I suppose this also implies that because not all conflicts can be settled through a wrestling match, enmity often continues, and disputes remain unresolved, through the games of life. As an explanation of this statement, political divisions perhaps exist because of the inability of society, the determinants of the strength of each team, have trouble accepting that there is a common way to settle disputes.
In my own life, I’ve encountered several of the themes discussed, including physical aggression as a means to settle conflict, engrossment and attachment to play, and observing the rewarding aspects of games. I’ve found examples of these lessons mostly in my elementary school days, though my play continued, and still continues, beyond in different forms.
In 2nd grade, while we were playing a game to answer the question: Who can jump the farthest. Two jumpropes would be placed parallel to each other, and each student in the class would have to take turns attempting to jump across the gap. Gradually, the gap would be widened, and those who could not jump across the threshold would be eliminated. I became quite engrossed in the game, and when, finally, I could not make the jump, I felt an immediate urge to cry. As my teacher came to my side, I blamed my tears on a supposedly “sprained ankle”, but I soon forgot about the incident as I began to play among my fellow disqualified candidates while the game continued for the rest still not disqualified.
What this event, and others like it, have shown to me is the firsthand experience of becoming attached to the results of a game, which I feel can be a healthy source of motivation if kept in check.
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