How Does Play Affect Our Brain and Our Lives - Research Paper Example

?Introduction Play is one of the most ancient aspects of human life. Playing begins in human life right from the earliest childhood. Due to its positive and joyful qualities, it is an inseparable part of childhood. Hence, whenever people remember their childhood, they always remember the games they used to play and how it brought fun and enjoyment in their life. The essential role of play in human life has made it a focus of researches by psychologists and sociologists. Researches in the field of psychology and sociology have found that play is not just limited to enjoyment and fun. The activity of play enhances many aspect of human life. Sadly, with growing age, people get busy with their academics and jobs, and forget to play. The so-called reality of their life makes them to forget the joys of playing (Slade 2). This not only reduces the fun in their life but also reduces the chances of living a stress free and healthy life. Hence, to live a life of fulfillment and success, people and organizations should make efforts to involve play in their daily activities as it will ensure not only reduction of stress and tensions but also increased productivity and creativity at work. Positive effects of play There are many characteristics of play that makes it nourishing for human life. Firstly, play is an end in itself as it is intrinsically motivated (Hughes 4). Secondly, play represents freedom and choice as participants are free to choose what they want to play and are not forced to play something they do not want to play (Hughes 4). According to Vandenberg (1998), people find playing exciting as it is not done out of a necessity but is done with free will (Hughes 4). Thirdly, play is always pleasurable (Hughes 4). It is found that if a child, or an adult, is forced to play something that he is not interested in playing, then he does not get the pleasure as the activity becomes a ‘job’ and does not remain play (Hughes 4). These qualities of play, which describe how play provides the feeling of freedom and choice to people, are the qualities that create pleasurable, nourishing and life enhancing effects on human life. However, these are not the only things that play provides. It has been proved that play has many advantages to developmental aspects of human being. Effects of play on brain The creative and flexible modification in human behavior in face of changing conditions is one of the greatest benefits of play (Kuhaneck, Spitzer and Miller 23). According to study by Bateson (2005), facilitation of innovation, problem solving and enhancement of creativity are achieved through play (Kuhaneck, Spitzer and Miller 23). In fact, play causes so many important developments in animal and human life that it is considered to be creating evolutionary advantages in human life. The quality of adapting easily to novel situations in life has been found more in people who played in childhood than in people who never played in their life (Kuhaneck, Spitzer and Miller 23). It has been observed that children find some way or the other to play even in adverse and difficult domestic conditions (Brannen 35). For example, children of alcoholic father play under the blanket or without making noise (Brannen 35). This shows that play develops the adaptive qualities in children. Hence, it is not surprising that theorists have found that play helps in developing the ability to respond more creatively to novel situations as play creates more flexible brains (Kuhaneck, Spitzer and Miller 23). In this way, it affects the functioning of the brain and makes human being more innovative. Study by Schwartzman (1978) has revealed that play and work can overlap as she found that people can have fun at work and find it enjoyable while they can find play externally motivated and unenjoyable (Holmes 211). This shows that if people work with the attitude of play, they can find immense fulfillment and joy at work. It has been found that more productivity and pleasure are achieved when people play at work (Kemp, Smith, DeKoven and Segal par.2). Sadly, due to the influence of Puritan ancestral belief that play is sinful and hard work is praiseworthy thing, play is undermined and considered waste of time by most of the Americans (Holmes 211). In fact, researchers have found the work and play are not opposite but complimentary to each other (Holmes 211). Play has the potential to reveal people’s state of being and can heal their emotional and psychological traumas (Slade 2). Hence, play affects human being’s life in a positive way. When a person plays, his mind and the body gets stimulated (Kemp, Smith, DeKoven and Segal par.1). It has been found that when a person plays, his imagination, creativity, problem-solving abilities and mental health is developed (Kemp, Smith, DeKoven and Segal par.1). Due to its physical and mental health enhancing qualities, researchers have realized that it is as important to human life as sleep, eating well and exercising (Kemp, Smith, DeKoven and Segal par.2). The management and transformation of “negative” emotions and experiences become possible by play (Kemp, Smith, DeKoven and Segal par.2). The interesting thing about play is that it benefits people even in their adulthood. Hence, the benefits of play can be reaped throughout the life if people continue to play as they play in their childhood (Kemp, Smith, DeKoven and Segal par.3). Sadly, people stop playing once they reach their adulthood and miss the chance of developing a playful attitude towards life and making life a happy experience. Play as serious business The two reasons for play being serious business are that play ensures the healthy development of mind and body, and it makes life fun to live. Researches have revealed that the role of childhood play is crucial in the development of social, cognitive and emotional aspects of a person (Wenner). It has also been found that lack of play in childhood can lead children to develop problems like anxiety and social maladjustment in their adulthood (Wenner). This shows how important play is in human life. Play is a serious business as it ensures the healthy development of person and development of adaptive skills which help a human being in coping with the social and personal situations in life. Secondly, play adds fun, pleasure and enjoyment to life. It allows a person to become childlike and enjoy his life unconditionally. This creates a happy environment and fulfilling mental state, and reduces the stress and tensions that affect the health negatively. Due to these positive benefits, it becomes clear that play is a serious business and should not be taken lightly. My work involves meeting deadlines and stress of performance. Hence, there is lot of stress and tension that I go through. I realize that if I play some outdoor games, it will help me to loosen my tensions and will develop my competitive spirit. This will help me to apply the skills at my work and compete to my full potential. Moreover, the outdoor games will ensure physical stamina and increase in energy levels. In this way, I think my work will benefit if I apply the attitude of play to work. Personal perspective The type of play that I have least experience with are the physical sports like basketball, baseball etc. I was never into physical games. My experience of playing physical games is limited to playing games like ‘hide and seek,’ swinging, running etc. However, I never played competitive games which demanded major physical exercise and stamina. I think that not playing physical games might have affected me in two ways. Firstly, it might have reduced my chances of being physically fit. Although I am physically fit, I get tired and experience fatigue when it comes to indulging in work which is physically exhausting. For example, when it comes to cleaning the house, I get tired very easily. I find it difficult to walk for more than 10 minutes. Hence, even though I am physically fit, my stamina is low and energy is short lived. Secondly, I feel that not participating in physical games has made me scared of competition. I do not compete to my ability. I have various talents and ideas. However, due to lack of competitive spirit, I lag behind and do not give my best. Unfortunately, when it comes to my personal experience, I have realized that I do not work and play at the same time. The most I do is play with a pen or draw doodles in my book while working. I think if I play and work at the same time, I might feel little less anxious and experience less stress of work. Playing will remove the unnecessary tensions and burden associated with work. So after reading he literature on how play affects brain and lives, I feel that working and playing at the same time will not only help in making me more productive and creative at work, but will also help in turning my work into playful activity. This will definitely change the whole paradigm of my work life. Also, in my opinion, some of the most important benefits of play are developing social skills, competitive attitude and playfulness. When you play with people, you make friends and develop a bond with them. This bond helps in building relationships and social skills. These skills can be useful in professional and personal life. Secondly, talents can be used only when a person has competitive attitude. Hence, play helps in getting exposure to the talents. Thirdly, by participating in play with attitude of fun and enjoyment, one learns to enjoy life unconditionally. This helps in developing playfulness, which makes a person to accept the adverse situation with sporting spirit. In this way, play is extremely important in human life. Conclusion The discussion above shows that play benefits human development in various ways. It makes a person fit to survive the challenges in life and enhances his adaptive skills. It also makes a person to learn how to live life to the fullest and with playful attitude. This shows that play is not just a childhood phenomenon but is a serious business. Hence, to make the most of life, people should continue to play in their adulthood also and make it a part of their personal and professional life. Works cited Brannen, Barbara. The gift of play: Why adult women stop playing and how to start again. Lincoln: Writer’s Club Press, 2002. Print. Holmes, Robyn. Play: An interdisciplinary synthesis. Ed. F. McMahon, Donald Lytle and Brian Sutton-Smith. Lanham: University Press of America, 2005. Print. Hughes, Fergus. Children, play and development. 4th ed. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, Inc., 2010. Print. Kemp, Gina, Smith, Melinda, DeKoven, Bernie and Jeanne Segal. Play, creativity and lifelong learning: Why play matters for both kids and adults. Sep. 2012. Web. 22 Nov. 2012. Kuhaneck, Heather, Spitzer, Susan and Elissa Miller. Activity analysis, creativity and playfulness in pediatric occupational therapy: Making play just right. Sudbury: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 2010.Print. Slade, Peter. Child’s play: It’s importance for human development. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2001. Print. Wenner, Melinda. “The serious need for play.” Scientific American. 28 Jan. 2009. 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