More than fun?

Myrna Milani writes about the human-animal bond. I found her thoughts about Animal Behavior, Learning and Playfulness of particular relevance to our exploration of human play - especially adult play. She writes:

"...I think that all behavioral scientists agree that evolution has primed young animals to learn from play. That tells us that this constitutes the most deeply embedded and thus energy-efficient way to teach animals new things. And because we know that domestication more or less suspends an animal in a physiologically and behaviorally immature state, this link between learning and play most likely lasts throughout a domesticated animal's life. Second, whatever else play in adult wild animals might denote, in many cases it signals an animal who has established and protected a territory, found food and water, mated , reproduced and raised young with energy to spare. If this weren't the case, the potential for adult play wouldn't exist in the gene pool. That says to me (and I admit that some anti-adult-animal-play scientists don't agree) that a playful adult possesses more confidence and ability to cope with stressful situations than a nonplayful one." (italics are mine)

I find this theme - the connection between playfulness and the ability to cope with stress - often repeated in psychological musings on the benefits of adult play. The calming effects of playing with pets are even more often cited. I know that it is possible to become more playful. But it certainly makes one think that it might be more than fun to try.

Bernie DeKoven, funsmith