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The Evolution of Play as Our Learning Superpower - Peter Gray | grokludo 20
Why do we play?
Not only play -- why do we play more than any other animal, and for longer? Well into adulthood?
Raph Koster, who's been on the podcast before, brought out A Theory of Fun in 2006, which aimed to put an evolutionary psychology lens over fun. The theory, was that FUN is LEARNING.
But back then, it felt more like a theory. After 20 years of new science connecting fun and learning, it's starting to feel more like fact.
So I sought out Peter Gray, research professor of psychology and neuroscience at Boston College. He's the author of the incredibly well-researched Free to Learn, as well as his Substack, Play Makes Us Human.
Peter has spent decades on the question of why we play, and how a playful state of mind is kind of a learning superpower. He joins grokludo now to talk about our evolutionary drive to play, as well as how these ideas weren't taken seriously for almost a century, and how we can use that info in designing our lives.
Find the book Free to Learn here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15843125-free-to-learn
Peter Gray writes on Substack here: https://petergray.substack.com/
Timecodes:
00:00 - Intro
01:35 - Is fun just learning?
08:37 - Mammals have the most to learn
11:28 - From Karl Groos to modern times
19:10 - Hunter gather play vs agricultural groups
29:35 - The Bartle Matrix and competition
39:48 - The kids are alright
44:33 - Does social media change things?
47:15 - Should we design games for more modern compulsions?
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Get grokludo in your inbox at grokludo.com, or catch it on the big podcast platforms!
I always write a bit more on the grokludo website:
https://grokludo.com/
YouTube:
youtube.com/@TheJunglist
YouTube Playlist:
youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3cxb6pzUE9Z7PXjIVbmr5qiohoq5wTdo
Follow on X:
https://x.com/TheJunglist
Follow on BlueSky:
https://bsky.app/profile/thejunglist.bsky.social
Podcast:
https://open.spotify.com/show/6GMbpa2aTZi8dBa0VVbsU1
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/grokludo/id1736667050
View all episodes
By JunglistWhy do we play?
Not only play -- why do we play more than any other animal, and for longer? Well into adulthood?
Raph Koster, who's been on the podcast before, brought out A Theory of Fun in 2006, which aimed to put an evolutionary psychology lens over fun. The theory, was that FUN is LEARNING.
But back then, it felt more like a theory. After 20 years of new science connecting fun and learning, it's starting to feel more like fact.
So I sought out Peter Gray, research professor of psychology and neuroscience at Boston College. He's the author of the incredibly well-researched Free to Learn, as well as his Substack, Play Makes Us Human.
Peter has spent decades on the question of why we play, and how a playful state of mind is kind of a learning superpower. He joins grokludo now to talk about our evolutionary drive to play, as well as how these ideas weren't taken seriously for almost a century, and how we can use that info in designing our lives.
Find the book Free to Learn here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15843125-free-to-learn
Peter Gray writes on Substack here: https://petergray.substack.com/
Timecodes:
00:00 - Intro
01:35 - Is fun just learning?
08:37 - Mammals have the most to learn
11:28 - From Karl Groos to modern times
19:10 - Hunter gather play vs agricultural groups
29:35 - The Bartle Matrix and competition
39:48 - The kids are alright
44:33 - Does social media change things?
47:15 - Should we design games for more modern compulsions?
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Get grokludo in your inbox at grokludo.com, or catch it on the big podcast platforms!
I always write a bit more on the grokludo website:
https://grokludo.com/
YouTube:
youtube.com/@TheJunglist
YouTube Playlist:
youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3cxb6pzUE9Z7PXjIVbmr5qiohoq5wTdo
Follow on X:
https://x.com/TheJunglist
Follow on BlueSky:
https://bsky.app/profile/thejunglist.bsky.social
Podcast:
https://open.spotify.com/show/6GMbpa2aTZi8dBa0VVbsU1
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/grokludo/id1736667050