Setting aside the fact that Marc Bekoff is a Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Fellow of the Animal Behavior Society, Guggenheim Fellow, recipient of the Exemplar Award from the Animal Behavior Society for major long-term contributions to the field of animal behavior, ambassador for Jane Goodall's Roots & Shoots program, member of the Ethics Committee of the Jane Goodall Institute, cofounder, with Jane Goodal, of Ethologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals: Citizens for Responsible Animal Behavior Studies, let's contemplate his even more significant contribution - his children's book, Animals at Play: rules of the game.
For me, the beginning of his book is the most revelatory part. This is where he not only makes his assertion that animals do, in fact, play; but, furthermore, that play is actually good for them. "Their play is for exercise, gaining strength," writes Bekoff, "and developing muscles for when they grow older, so they can travel long distances and run fast. They are the prey and must run away to avoid being a meal. Or they are the predators, trying to catch their meals. Playing is also a time for learning. Learning how to fight, hunt and mate - social skills they need when they become adults. In their games, young animals learn the rules of the group - and how to communicate or 'talk' with each other. They learn to cooperate and play fair. Life in the wild is tough. It's even tougher when you're alone, so play helps to create bonds and a sense of community." And then he goes on to make an observation which effectively bridges the empathy gap between child and animal: "And," he writes, "...playing is fun!"
That's exactly why kids play, why we all play. Not because it's good for us. But because it's fun. And that's also why we play together - adults, children, animals - because we have more fun together, with each other. And therein lies the profundity and importance of the wisdom contained in this lovely little book.
"Animals," notes Bekoff, "even follow rules!" He exemplifies:
1. Everyone has to want to play. 2. Everyone has to cooperate - they work together - to keep the game from becoming fighting. 3. Everyone needs to communicate and pay attention to each other's movements, sounds, and smells.
As for rule number 2, he observes: "Animals also become very excited when they play. Sometimes they don't realize how strong they are compared to their friends. A nip turns into a painful bite. Shoving becomes ramming, knocking a smaller friend over onto his back. What do they do? They apologize, of course, just like you!"
He takes this observation even further: "If you have little sisters, brothers, or cousins, you know how to play with them. In a race, you don't run too fast. When playing catch, you don't throw too hard. During a board game, you help your younger sister take her turn....When grown up red-necked wallabies - cousins of kangaroos - box with younger wallabies, they punch gently or just slightly touch. They don't push hard or move too quickly. The older wallabies make playtime last longer by not frightening or hurting the little ones."
So much wisdom. So many lessons. So clearly, compassionately written. So accessible. Such a loving gift for our children, for our species.
I have long been a happy follower of Marc Bekoff's explorations of animals at play. His compassionate, disciplined investigations of animal society have helped me understand the profundity of play and its power to transcend culture and species. Having an opportunity to meet him again at the TASP/IPUSA conference, I at last found a good excuse to resume our correspondence. He told me of an article he wrote with Jessica Pierce, "Moral in Truth and Claw," where he was able to make some clear and undeniable connections between play and morality. Here are a few:
"Although play is fun, it's also serious business. When animals play, they are constantly working to understand and follow the rules and to communicate their intentions to play fairly. They fine-tune their behavior on the run, carefully monitoring the behavior of their play partners and paying close attention to infractions of the agreed-upon rules. Four basic aspects of fair play in animals are: Ask first, be honest, follow the rules, and admit you're wrong. When the rules of play are violated, and when fairness breaks down, so does play....
"The social dynamics of play require that players agree to play and not to eat one another or fight or try to mate. When there's a violation of those expectations, others react to the lack of fairness. For example, young coyotes and wolves react negatively to unfair play by ending the encounter or avoiding those who ask them to play and then don't follow the rules. Cheaters have a harder time finding play partners....
"When children agree, often after considerable negotiation, on the rules of a game, they implicitly consent not to arbitrarily change the rules during the heat of the game. During play, children learn the give and take of successful reciprocal exchanges (you go first this time; I get to go first next time), the importance of verbal contracts (no one can cross the white line), and the social consequences of failing to play by the rules (you're a cheater). As adults we are also constantly negotiating with others about matters of give and take, we rely daily on verbal contracts with others, and most of us, most of the time, follow myriad socially constructed rules of fairness during our daily lives."
Watching an animal playing, any animal, and feeling that trans-species connection, that sense of "here's a fellow player" "we're in this world, together, and, from time to time, we have actual fun" and this animal is having the same just as much fun as you do when you're having it - well, it's something like a religious experience. And when it's an elk you're feeling so connected to, an elk, for goodness sake, that you're having fun in some strange virtual way together with, you have to admit, this fun thing, well, it's kind of like a religious experience, like a connection to life itself, yes? no?
"...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.
The profoundly playful Pat Kane has a three simple measures for the conditions governing a successful "ground of play" (as in "play ground")
1 It must have loose but robust governance 2 It must ensure a surplus of time, space and stuff 3 It must treat failure, risk and mess as necessary for development
He applies this to three different environments: Lion cubs at play on the savannah, a play park, and the Internet. Of the three, the last bears slightly more direct relevance to our being here together. I quote liberally, as I am wont to do:
1 Have loose but robust governance? Surely that's the very definition of the Internet. It has a variety of non-governmental institutions which manage domain names, and the improvement of codes and protocols that enable the web. And these codes themselves have come from a variety of actors that are neither public authorities or private enterprises, but exist somewhere in the 'commons' of open source software production...
2 Ensure a surplus of time, space and stuff? Again, that's the very definition of the Net. It ensures the infinite copyability of digital information, it exists in a state of total plenitude of content. Time mulitplies on the net: the way that social networking eats into organizational time is evidence of the way the Net busts the boundaries of our schedules, enables us to break time into bundles that suit us.
3 Treats failure, risk and mess as necessary for development? The mantra for web development is not 'ready, aim, fire' - get it right, hope you hit the mark - but 'ready, fire, aim' - keep shooting, try many trajectories and options, and out of the many iterations a few things will hit beautifully....
So, that's why I love the web. (Listen also to my Funcast called: "Learning by Dying".)
"Play teaches that I have a choice beyond survival and contesting with the world. This choice to thrive is based on a trust in the power to love and to give this love unconditionally at the moment of attack, and after the worst of atrocities. The choice to be neither an aggressor nor a victim increases my opportunities exponentially. Only when I stop my dependence on self-defense can I begin to thrive. There is no safety in such a fearful, contest world that leaves little or no room for living the miracle of love. When we thrive we feel loved and are able to give love. Fear may impel us to survive, but it is love that propels us to feel alive, sustains our vitality, and restores our humanity. We are seeking the experience of being alive. The difficulty is that for us to find it, we must not be afraid of life."
In case you haven't seen it, the collection of videos of dolphins playing with bubble rings is an inspiring demonstration of how play transcends and unites species. I've watched and watched these videos, and each time I feel more connected and more in awe.
Setting aside the fact that Marc Bekoff is a Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Fellow of the Animal Behavior Society, Guggenheim Fellow, recipient of the Exemplar Award from the Animal Behavior Society for major long-term contributions to the field of animal behavior, ambassador for Jane Goodall's Roots & Shoots program, member of the Ethics Committee of the Jane Goodall Institute, cofounder, with Jane Goodal, of Ethologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals: Citizens for Responsible Animal Behavior Studies, let's contemplate his even more significant contribution - his children's book, Animals at Play: rules of the game.
