Abstract
Examines what thinkers have said about the nature of play, in particular its value to adults, and its relation to happiness and goals. Shows how play is natural to the digital generation, as back packers travelling around the world. Cites the pronouncements of writers like philosophers Jean‐Paul Sartre and Aristotle, psychologists George Butterworth and Margaret Harris, and Pat Kane (in “The Play Ethic”). Contrasts traditional attitudes towards play as being something of no cultural value, plus the views that play is “a separate activity” (Lev Semeonivich Vygotsky) and “pure waste” (Meyer Barash) with the view of Johan Huizinga that culture derives from play. Explores the views of Mihaly Csikszmenmiahlyi, who investigated the nature of enjoyment as an optimal experience based on the concept of flow. Moves onto the Policies Studies Institute study which sees fun as something which jobs can offer instead of security and promotion, and notes the use of fun items as part of companies’ competitive stance, for instance Virgin Airways’ computer games in each airline seat. Concludes with the “No Logo” radicals who subvert billboards and advertising through use of the Internet and street protests.