Why People Play

What is play and why do people do it? This might sound like a simple question, but it’s quite a bit more complicated than it seems. Try asking a few of your friends and you’ll probably find that each one of them has a completely different answer.

This question actually has two parts. The first has a broadly accepted answer, but the second really doesn’t. When it comes to establishing a definition of play, the philosopher Bernard Suits argues in The Grasshopper that it represents a “voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles.” He describes it as the “attempt to achieve a specific state of affairs using only means permitted by rules where the rules prohibit use of more efficient in favor of less efficient means and where the rules are accepted just because they make possible such activity.” Suits provides a satisfactory definition of play, but he doesn’t explain why people do it. In other words, he leaves the second part of our question ambiguous.

The psychologist Brian Sutton-Smith argues in The Ambiguity of Play that answers to the second part of our question can be divided into seven categories. Representing the different discourses which have developed over time, these categories are what he refers to as the “rhetorics of play.” The first is the rhetoric of “play as progress.” The second is the rhetoric of “play as fate.” The third rhetoric is that of “play as power.” The fourth rhetoric is that of “play as identity.” The fifth is the rhetoric of “play as the imaginary.” The sixth is the “rhetoric of the self.” The seventh rhetoric is that of “play as frivolous.” You’re probably wondering what these “rhetorics of play” actually represent, so let’s dive into the details and look at some examples.

The idea that people develop important skills through play is referred to as the rhetoric of “play as progress” by Sutton-Smith. He points out that play is often described as a means of “moral, social, and cognitive growth” rather than a type of entertainment. The argument is basically that people adapt to the world around them through “playful improvisation.” Children in particular. People who hold this discourse tend to ground their line of reasoning in the existence of games like Make Believe where children are supposed to imitate the activities of adults. This frequently takes the form of role playing. When they play Make Believe, children for example adopt the role of a doctor, detective, or lawyer.

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