Learning Through Play

Hi, I’m David and my mission in life is to prepare people for the future of work.?

In this week’s edition of the newsletter the theme revolves around learning through play. If we think back to the time when we were children, we often played with things in ways that were different from what they were originally intended for. Pots became drums and a roll of bandages became our supply of choice for a Halloween mummy costume. A byproduct of this type of play is usually learning, because we learn what things are normally used for by playing with them. But that’s not the main intention behind a child’s play. The fun comes first. However, play can lead to new ideas and innovations. It can also lead to personal growth and development, not to mention a better understanding of the world. And, by its definition, play is the exploration of the unfamiliar. In today’s volatile times, in which generative AI and other technologies are impacting our work and our lives, we should spend more time playing. Below are some insights and thoughts that will help you to rediscover the joy of playing, and to appreciate the essential purpose that playing has in our lives - learning about the world.

Timeless Insight

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” – George Bernard Shaw

Every parent knows that children need space for unstructured play that helps them develop their creativity and problem-solving skills. However, the benefits of play don’t disappear as soon as we become adults. Even if we engage our curiosity in different ways as we grow up, a lot of learning and exploration still comes from things we do for the sheer fun of it. Children have no purpose for play; they merely do what’s fun. It just so happens that unstructured, undirected play often has incredibly powerful byproducts. For instance, when children play, they acquire new information about the world. When children play together, they expand their social skills and strengthen the ability to regulate their emotions. Therefore, when the pressure to be productive every minute of the day starts getting to us, we have much to gain from doing all we can to carve out time to play. Just like we did during our childhood years, we can learn important lessons through play - we can discover a new way to see the world, better understand our own capabilities, and find joy in the little things in life.?

Food for Thought

Play might seem like an indulgence, a way to distract ourselves and pass the time. However, if we reflect on our past experiences, we will likely identify at least one or two activities that we have undertaken for pleasure/fun that have fuelled a subsequent discovery.

Innovation does not always have to be the result of serious study and agonising progress. New ideas can come from a chain of thoughts and circumstances that are not obvious in terms of what they can produce, as long as we remain open to the possibility.?

Sometimes this openness to the possibilities around us, which we experience during play, can provide a fertile space for innovation to take root. There is no specific prescription for innovation, other than letting our imagination run loose and experimenting.

This power of play to inspire innovation has fueled an exceptional amount of discovery throughout history. Take the story of Charles Babbage, a French mathematician, inventor, and mechanical engineer, considered to be one of the fathers of modern computers.?

His mother took him to a Mechanical Museum, a place to be entertained by artistic, whimsical devices. He was taken up to the attic to see rare items, the most captivating of which was a mechanical dancer, which completely enthralled the young Charles.

The encounter started an obsession in Charles Babbage with mechanical devices that convincingly emulate the subtleties of human behaviour. He earned degrees in mathematics and astronomy as a young scholar, but maintained his insatiable interest in machines.?

Almost thirty years after his visit to the Mechanical Museum with his mother, he published a seminal analysis of industrial technology, On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures, a work that would go on to play a pivotal role in Karl Marx’s Das Kapital two decades later.?

Around the same time, Babbage begins sketching plans for a calculating machine he calls the Difference Engine, an invention that will eventually lead him to the Analytical Engine several years later, now considered to be the first programmable computer ever imagined.

Play is about exploring the unfamiliar, just like Babbage did with the mechanical dancer. After all, if he knew what would come out of his obsession, he might not have entertained it. When we play, we take chances and we experiment new things just to see what happens.?

It is the novelty that brings us pleasure and makes play rewarding and fun, not the outcome. The whole point of play is to be surprised. The unknown factor is part of what entertains us. When the world surprises us with something, our brains are wired to pay attention.

Play is a gateway to possibility. Whether it’s through new music, or a new spectacle, play can get our senses tingling as we wonder what we will experience in the coming minutes. This is why Einstein called playfulness “the essential feature of productive thought.”?

Play can instantly transport us from the realm of “things we already know and habitually do” (taking the same route to work, brushing our teeth every morning, saving money, etc.) and into the realm of “things we haven’t yet figured out.” And it is here that innovation happens.

Exploring play is about understanding that innovation can happen when we are driven by enjoyment, because playing is inherently valuable and doesn’t need to be productive. Innovation doesn't always have to come out of a serious pursuit. It can also come by playing.

Article of the Week?

The Myths and Magic of Generating New Ideas

Caricature of the Week

Source: Condé Nast

Thank you for reading and keep on growing!

David

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