Stuart Brown: Why play is vital -- no matter your age

[nickdevoil]

Unfortunate comments on the Bruegel.

1. The painting dates from he second half of the 16th century, not the 15th.

2. It's called Children's Games and depicts... children, completely invalidating the attempted argument.

3. "I think this is a typical picture of what it was like in a courtyard then". Bruegel wasn't a straightforward realist. He specialized in surreal, outlandish compositions intended to convey a moral message.

Apart from that, I enjoyed the talk!

[AppleSouffle]

Nickdevoil, oh, you're an art history major. So do you enjoy working at McDonalds?

Apart from your anal and self-indulgent comment, I enjoyed the talk.

[tobo86]

So if I'm massively serious but every now and then blessed with being playful, anyone know how I can increase the FEELING of playfulness...................­..?

[selvmordspilot]

I loved this video. But I don't like the term "serious play".

Why not call it "sincere play" instead? The other is almost contradicting itself.

[appellaa]

is he....xboxahoy? :o

[5packzach]

Don't get it. After saying how bad being a coach potato is (Bart Simpson) he then says that watching movies can be good and be referred to as play.

Before I even watched this video I assumed he meant play as being outside, running around, laughing and enjoying yourself.

[ticopride]

I wonder how playing video games fits into his conception of "play".

[selvmordspilot]

@ticopride : depends of the game i guess. There's a lot of different games out there.

But e.g. Portal is an example of a game that I'm pretty sure is good for anyone to play through. It's short, non-repetitive and intelligently fun.

[GazP2014]

That's fuckin ace that thy didn't even know each other, an the polar bear started play fighting with the husky, that's cool. The world as play there's an inner child within us all, just a shame many don't keep hold of it, but it'll always be there, never far away.

[adultswithtoys]

Playing with toys (guns) saved my life. Check out my video, I would like to meet similar adults who enjoy toys. Make a game of it.

[LeeDexter41]

great information about play.......ironically though, this man's presentation is seriously making me wonder if he actually knows how to.........

[RalfLippold]

This is just awesome - and don't we feel most human when in the "play state"?

[joanmnordemann]

This video affirms the adage "all work and no play....." and how that idea is hindrance to our well being. I applaud the research and am learning to play again in my life. It allows me to laugh more, live more and release so many of the stresses that have accumulated in my "workaholic" lifestyle. Sales have improved and the interaction I have with others is far more fulfilling.

[johnlobu]

sex is the play which is most interesting and it starts increasingly from childhood.

but it has disastrous effects in form of child abuse, rapes, traumas.

Play whose objective is not peace can't be play.

[St00sh13]

@johnlobu I suspect anything that has an objective is not play!

[okonomiyaki4U]

100% true! The problem is, that a lot of people who are in charge of our life (e.g. the guy at the other side of the table during a job interview) are not responding to play-signals like the Polarbear. They just kill you faster. Pitty.....

[jacksawild]

My old grandmother used to give the opposite advice. As in, "stop playing with yourself". I knew she was wrong.

[dinogrower]

The part at the end with the body suits and drawing on each other? Imagine how offensive for a high power distance culture that demands interpersonal distance.

[xMoac]

really amazing video. Play = Life.

[limeywop]

@mrskittykate -let's hear you do a presentation

[mrskittykate]

Can't disagree about the importance of play, but I can't think of a more boring speaker on the topic!!!

[derman077]

@mrskittykate you were supposed to say "and" not "but"

[ssaskcikloot]

anyone up for a game of "doctor"

[JBELLE127]

Sounds like some of us didn't get enough "play time" when we were young! Actually isn't this also about Creative and Alternate Thought?

[RJHEllis]

So in summary, it IS GOOD to be a player. Thank you for the evidence thats its GREAT to be a "player" lol

[stealthmeth]

shittt i dont know about you, but " i dont wanna be playaa nooo moreeee "actually 'im not a player i just crush alot"

[RJHEllis]

lol

[cheeseit126]

flow :) i keep running into this

[jimlovesearth2]

what about playing rough... like getting an adrenaline rush from doing something life threatening.. there are adrenaline junkies that really play for blood. That can't be so healthy. Or that David Carradine autoerotic asphyxication- is that healthy play... doesn't seem like it.

[stilly2009]

yeah, play is important, if you' play the piano', play tennis', play with yourself or others, it can produce the'feelgood factor'you 'feelgood' about yourself and others, this is important, dont work yourself to death, be happy!!!

[dwayne1138]

I think children in the future will be the leaders..'And a little child shall lead them' certain instructions will be given to the child and then the teacher will learn from the child ..the teacher will give attention, in hope of gaining new information.Superior to elder as the the elder would of lost his mantel 'tuning in'/play facility..but there will be a mutual stimulation  for both. 'Until ye become as little children' is a true scientific prophecy.

[soccerdogg007]

In relation to your comment....A great teacher is more like a conductor that reacts to the conditions and the potential presented to them.

[dwayne1138]

IMO -our souls are joy- the spirit of play is when the soul is at joy, the reflection of Spirit which is bliss. to link with soul exists within us of an eternal note of joy, sounding through all pains..Play/Joy is what this poor world needs..its lose has been the greatest tribulation and sacrifice attendant on man's submergence in matter.. to rebuild this world we need joy, the soul radiation, into our environment.. a foundation of our edifice!

[mentalmoomin]

So true..it's that certain vibration of energy !! So greatly needed in the physical and the spiritual xxx

[AubreyDebrett]

You say 'Soul' and 'energy', I say Stuff and Nonsense. Does anyone who uses these words stop to ask themselves: What do I actually mean? And how many of these people who ask themselves this question, or have it asked of them, can actually answer it? And how many of those answers actually make sense? Very few and very few and very few!

[mentalmoomin]

I LOVE your spirit LOL xxx

[voodude2003]

Energy and Soul are both light. Light it what everything is made of.

[AubreyDebrett]

That is precisely what I'm talking about. Nonsense. Gibberish. Poppycock. Prattle. Hooey. Babble. Hogwash. Tripe. Hot Air. Mumbo Jumbo. Bunk. Claptrap. Balderdash.

[deevinewizzdumb]

AWESOME.... so important!

[creativemovements]

Thank you for this wonderful video! I work as a drama therapist and I completely agree on the vital importance of play in our lives to maintain a healthy mental, physical and emotional health as individuals and part of the collective whole including at the work place. This is brilliant!

[Marinkorpse]

Great video!!! Thanks for sharing

PEACE!

[breezyvibe]

Cool video . . I learned a lot!!

[jiujitsuthug]

AWESOME - thanks for sharing!

[Tacofreak]

Where can you find the student video that he had in his presentation? I'd like to see what other things those students have done.

[Tressco]

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

[celebrityselftalk]

if yor work is play then how could it b dull ?

[boxant]

Extremely interesting speech!

[partylikeitsnine]

This video is great!

[smudge6699]

There's loads like this on TED(.)com

Inspirational talks on new discoveries, new ideas, new ways of looking at things and loads more.

TED is a playground for the PLAYFULLY inquiring mind.

[WPM1414]

Good speech, but I couldn't get over how much he reminds me of Joe Biden.

[mimzee2008]

lol

[adolthitler]

When I was a toddler still in nappies, my mom took me to our neighbours house. My neighbour had a german shepard chain on one side of his verandah. It would bark and strain at the leash, my mum was scared, but I rolled across the verandah and wrestled with the dog, even taking bones from its mouth. My mum was screaming at me to get away from the dog. I just said why? its my friend. My mum asked my neighbour to get me away from the dog, but he was scared of his own dog. Play for the win.

[Alberg6]

only you could tame the vicious german shepard hitler? how heartfelt.. i would have shit my little nazi nappies right there on the spot!

[usernamevacuum]

I agree with your first sentence stegocephalian. But it aint nice to think about other people that way, most people are pretty cool if you let them be that way!!!

[Stegocephalian]

Some of the things that make life worth living, are things for which there is, gloriously and defiantly, no perceivable utility whatsoever. People who don't see this, and always seek to justify what they do in terms of clear and concrete benefit, and feel like they need to excuse themselves for "wasting time" sometimes, tend to lead tedious - and in my view - wasteful lives.

So hooray for play! :)

[SugarSw337]

beatuiful, i'll be quoting you.

[intrepgun]

'play' as an instinctive, possibly universal altered state. i like that.

[AgentGustavo]

Everynight men and women go to bars to play. They gamble using their bodies.

[adolthitler]

Been a while since I won the jackpot.

I keep getting lemons.

[derrzis]

LOL

[KitUmscheid]

The opposite of play is not work, it's depression. Well said.

[tobo86]

@KitUmscheid Dayam. No wonder I'm not very playful now! Thanks crappy childhood!!

[ShrimpnoodIes]

Why was that huskie bounded to a chain? Does play ensue only through coercion?

[TKMSeznam12]

Because it was a sled-dog.

[sirhung]

Wait until that polar bear and husky is starving, we'll see if they'll play or not.

[Justen]

I was just thinking about this the other day as I was skipping down the street! Glad to know I was right once again ♥

Yippeee Skippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee­eee!

[pennilesscripple]

so i guess imprisoning and torturing rats is a form of 'civilized' play?

[paula8906]

wow, you totally took that out of context and turned it into something it wasn't. congrats on a completely bogus assumption.

[pennilesscripple]

they ran 'animal studies' that involved torturing rats to 'prove' something that any human being with a heart already knows: play is good for you, being tortured is bad for you

i took it out of context to expose it for what it was

how he can even begin to speak of human nature without any regard for animal nature is beyond me

[middlekk]

They're also delicious.

[Serpreme]

i have always thought this about play and having fun. I plan on reading some books on this for my kids.

[KDIZ930]

this is so great.

[UpdownCourt09]

Me and my friend wagged high school one day and played on a see-saw for the whole day.

I felt like a little kid again, and I realized how much being older sucks. Old people are fun sponges :(

[ResearchX]

I also grew up playing Cowboys and Indians with neighborhood kids. Sometimes I was the cowboy and sometimes I was the indian (indians always lost). It gives you a different perspective when you are placed by choice or not, on the other side of the playing field. I realized that Indians were not that bad and learned to respect their side of the situation. I also learned that death is sad no matter who you are. Maybe that is why I am so anit war. Kids could learn a lot by playing cowboys & indians

[ResearchX]

I grew up playing baseball, basketball and the more extreme dodge ball. We even had square dance day once a week during pt. Yeah I am that old lol. Nowadays kids grow up with violent video games in which they hunt and shoot an enemy or some other kind of combat simulated play. I think that is what is changing. The military even set up a shoot your enemy type arcade in a mall recently in an attempt to recruit young men and women into the Marines.

[CrashGames2108]

Yeah, the way you may pretend to be shooting each other and deaths don't really mean anything in videogames is absolutely NOTHING like the cops and robbers or cowboys and indians the previous generation would have played.

[ResearchX]

Very true CrashGames2108. It was very serious and very emotional when we the (indians) would get hunted down and shot. It was so sad that it made an inprint upon our soul. So I have to agree that play no only gives us the physical preparation but the mental and spiritual preparation as well. Play and or play acting gives us all a setting upon which we have to grow from.

[CrashGames2108]

By the way, it was sarcasm.

[kimlea69]

this is a lecture that need to go viral....kim

[cheatdath]

TED owns

[kristmist]

Watching that felt feels like a huge relief! Finally it's somewhat accepted to play in older age! I've been waiting for this moment since late childhood! Welcome back to the kindergarten people!

[Animalll2003lll]

so then what's the evolutionnary purpose of play if it's not linked to learning? what else can it serve? that's very blurred in his talk. I want more explanations about that.

what is the purpose of playing?

[kaynd]

It might not be linked to learning (not always) but it is linked to thinking and generally developing the minds ability to control body or have better situation awareness, interacting with the environment or other living beings. This is way better than sit and do nothing or do things that you only have to.

The word play here includes any activity random or not which makes you feel joyfully. This depends on the person so its really hard to put into boundaries.

[javierenchina]

Nietzsche would agree

[ROFLpwnedvideos]

I breed rats for snake food and sometimes I keep a few as pets, and I watch their behavior...and they play CONSTANTLY. They jump and squeek and chase each other all over the cage. It's amusing to watch.

[nestorrfortuna]

so i guess we can play with ourselves now

[republicofliberty]

thank god for ted

[ChanceChanel1]

very nice!

[juliecranford]

George Smoot is a real person!?

[jidar]

hahahah. Yes he's a Nobel prize winning physicist. And that was him playing himself in the cameo on the Big Bang Theory. :)

[EnIightening]

Hay was she only playing.!

What?! No, I didn't cheat on you, it was... uh... erm, there was an angel! Yeah! and he said I would conceive and bear a son, uh... through the... power of the holy... uh, spirit! Yeah, that's totally what happened! (please buy it please buy it please buy it)"

Only Banter.! love the photo`s

[dirtyandscratchd]

although they do look like there having fun it doesnt make them definetely gay maybe just a little bi

[ThePointlessPoint]

you funny

[dirtyandscratchd]

i love waht he says about the bear with the predatory gays, i dont think the husky was gay what did he mean

[Radjehuty]

He didn't say gays, he said "Gaze" lol.

It means how something is looking at another. Predatory gaze, playful gaze etc.

[lvecsey]

lol i can imagine all these black marker points aimed at me and going "whoa, stand back! what are you thinking?"

[JustinHSabaj]

good for you. keep it up!

[Tacofreak]

haha Pun intended?

[JustinHSabaj]

pun unintended! just being positive.

[GetMeThere1]

In the Q/A period he said "If you stop a cat from playing--batting stuff around with its paws, etc.--it becomes just as good a predator as if it had played."

I'd certainly like to see his "data" on that. It sounds like one of those BULLSHIT things that people say, that they have no real evidence for.

[onemoretone]

i play every wknd if that means partying is play????

[djben1977]

What a great talk. I have an idea for work.

[MRSketch09]

Wow.. great video.

Very informative.. That bit on how NASA hires.. was.. definitely interesting.

[HigherPlanes]

I'm all for play. But that polar bear was NOT hungry!

[rowanrockhopper2]

Does anyone know who painted the painting at the beginning and what its called?

[Subbbba]

@rowanrockhopper2

"Children's games", by Pieter Bruegel

[rowanrockhopper2]

@Subbbba thankyou - its quite surreal having a question you asked a year ago being answered... finally :)

[PRODVDi]

woah...

[popeyroach]

i enjoyed this

[sarahforpresident]

I'd play with Stuart Brown.

[MetalSupra1982]

haha XD

[sarahforpresident]

He seems like a nice guy, but I'd probably pass once things started getting....serious.

[HiAdrian]

Very good talk. Finally someone who goes as far to say that play is the very nature of life.

Through intellectual concepts, things like survival, success, "purpose" have knocked play of its throne. And we pay the dearly price with our mental and physical well being. Just look at schools...

Now that we have technology and machines who enhance our senses and do tedious work for us, we need to start the glorious play before the sun runs out. Survival and security become worthless once assured.

[djben1977]

Your remark is "remarkable." I really like your second paragraph. All true.

[86kinky86]

that was a good talk

[HiAdrian]

The video with the polar bear and the dogs is available of YouTube by the way, just search for it.

[Drynae]

And that's why doctors should stop calling their patients, patients withing their presence as if they're some documented experiment.

Kind of reminds me of Patch Adams what he said at the end about cancer. Play can also cure, as it strengthens ones 'spirit' (brain).

[VCat2006]

I thought the "wearable meeting" was the business uniform.

[PhyA52]

This was very enlightening. I love TEDTalks.

[overratedname]

very interesting, perhaps even fascinating.

Thanks mate. good talk

[0Dan1]

if the polar bear and huskie from the beginning are 'in nature' why does one have them have a chain attached to their leg?

[overratedname]

its quite possible that while they are in nature, the husky is accompanied by its... human.

[tillo2008]

what he's saying isn't necessarily that the dog is free, but that the photographer was not interfering and the bear is a wild animal, and the pictures he showed were in no way scripted.

It's about play, not about "chained" animals.

You're not by chance a PETA freak?

[0Dan1]

no no no, not at all :P I didn't mean anything like that, I'm not concerned about chaining up animals, I'm not a PETA freak... not even a little.

I just got the impression from what he was saying that they were free and in the wild, so it seemed odd that the chain was there.

I fully realize that the 'play' is genuine, I was merely surprised at the way he described the context.

[BaileysBeads]

I like the definition 'PETA freaks', it suggest there there are other kind of PETA supporters, which I am one of.

[0Dan1]

yes, it's a bit like 'religious fanatics' or something like that, making clear that there's nothing intrinsically wrong with supporting that cause... just highlighting those who perhaps, take it too far.

[BaileysBeads]

A large part of the PETA foundation is just completely disconnected from the main public. They have no idea what the public opinion is and all they do is alienate them even further. Which is a real shame as the horrible treatment of animals continues, and allot of people would agree with most of their statement if they weren't being such fanatical weirdos.

[787Bisurdaddy]

"it suggest there there are other kind of PETA supporters, which I am one of."

I would propose a name for that kind of PETA supporter: "PETA morons." Because I can't see any other reason why a person would support PETA.

PETA supports terrorism, they kill animals, and they think people should not be allowed to own pets. The only reasons I can think of for people to support that is that either they are nutjobs or morons.

[zombiesmasher]

We are such a fascinating animal.

[BaileysBeads]

Aww great, just when I gave up World of Warcraft!

[D3mi4n]

But WOW is like a second job :p

[yatzico]

hahaha u little prick§§

[yatzico]

hahaha u little prick§§

[Patrick1Bateman]

i feel sorry for him

[OgoTomO]

why?

[VCat2006]

To the video? Because advanced life has emotional needs and can learn from imagination.

[tillo2008]

why would you feel sorry for Stuart Brown?