What is Play? Enhancement

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In the first of what will likely be many thoughts on this topic from a the standpoint of pure unprofessional conjecture I would like to submit the idea that, contrary to what some may believe, we are not playing unless in some way we are improving. Since we as intelligent animals need certain skills to survive we have developed ways to impart the knowledge of these skills onto otherwise ignorant youngsters. Being that we are pretty hedonistic beings in our youth and unlikely to just sit and listen to whatever our elders have to say it seems that we've developed another way to learn, which is of course play. Play inherently improves us in some way all the time. As children we develop the skills required to survive through play, often times initiated by an older family member or mentor. We are hardwired to be learning skills quickly and enjoying learning these skills through play. This obviously begs the question why play as adults? Simply put, we don't stop learning and we enjoy using the skills we learned as children and developing new ones. We can see the issues of a loss of play in the common complaint "I'm just not challenged at work" when we stop growing and pushing the use of our skills work, which can be enjoyable and even considered play, becomes drudgery.

Lets look for example at something that would almost immediately be considered mind numbing monotony at any time. Sitting for hours in front of a computer monitor entering data, testing and retesting results, this continual work would usually be something to be dreaded, not anticipated eagerly. However for thousands of North Americans such as a myriad of independent game and software developers this is a hobby, this is play. It is play because they enjoy it and I would venture an educated guess that it is most enjoyable from the challenge that comes from creating it and the exhilarating pride that comes from its completion. This same logic can be applied to dozens of common hobbies, woodworking, gardening, even general exercise is enjoyed because it stimulates and improves us. It is a holdover from our enjoyment of improvement as children which we develop through play.