Trying out living
Melvin Konner considers play to be a biological puzzle. Play requires energy, and even risk, without serving any particular purpose – and yet intelligent, larger-brained animals tend to be very playful.
By my own observations of children, playing resembles a sort of rehearsal for life – kids mimic real life. They practice for parenthood by playing house; or they make sense of good and evil by playing cops & robbers; or they construct buildings or cars as a designer or engineer might.
Art may be a similar biological puzzle. Without fulfilling any of the basic human necessities for survival – food, clothing, shelter – it has been known to consume entire lives. I know I would gladly trade a meal for a ticket to a Broadway show.
To the extent that the arts are an adult form of play, John Cage created a parallel when he said, “Art is sort of experimental station in which one tries out living.”
Well, maybe art/play really is a necessity for human survival. Konner also wrote that “Research suggests that people in positive and playful moods are more open to experience and learn in better and more varied ways.”
