The primeval soil of play - Many Minds
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- Title
- The primeval soil of play
- Description
- <p class="p1">Puppies wrestling and mock-biting each other. Toddlers playing hide and seek. Kittens pouncing—repeatedly—on a toy mouse. You've no doubt looked on at scenes like this with amusement. And you've no doubt seen some of those viral videos—of ravens sledding down hills, of bumble bees playing with balls. All these moments make us smile, maybe even giggle. But the scientific questions they raise merit serious attention. Where do we see play in the animal kingdom? Where do we not? What functions does play serve? Do we—and many other creatures—have an elemental <em>need</em> for play?</p> <p class="p1">My guest today is <a href= "https://eeb.utk.edu/people/gordon-burghardt/"><span class="s1">Dr. Gordon Burghardt</span></a>. Gordon is a longtime Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Tennessee. For decades now, Gordon has been a pioneer in the study of animal play, with a particular focus on play in reptiles and other animals not usually considered playful. His 2005 book, <a href= "https://direct.mit.edu/books/oa-monograph/4951/The-Genesis-of-Animal-PlayTesting-the-Limits"> <span class="s1"><em>The Genesis of Play</em></span></a>, remains a landmark in the field.</p> <p class="p1">Here, Gordon and I talk about the major types of play: locomotor play, object play, and social play. We discuss the five criteria he has proposed for recognizing play across animal taxa. We survey several of the functions of play that have been proposed over the decades, and discuss how—in the end—play doesn't seem to have just one function. We also talk about human play—about what sets it apart, and about the possibility that play lies at the root of many of the capacities and institutions we think of as distinctively, impressively human. Along the way, Gordon and I touch on play in bears, pythons, turtles, fruit flies, and octopuses. We consider play between members of taxonomically distant species. We talk about “self-handicapping”; the surplus resource theory of play; the importance of "risky play" and "free play"; the immersive quality of play; bodily and vocal play signals in mammals; and whether human play is increasingly endangered. </p> <p class="p1">Without further ado, here's my conversation with Dr. Gordon Burghardt. Enjoy!</p> <p class="p2"> </p> <p class="p1">A transcript of this episode will be posted soon.</p> <p class="p3"> </p> <p class="p4"><span class="s2"><em>Notes and links</em></span></p> <p class="p4">3:00 – A <a href= "https://www.science.org/content/article/fruit-flies-may-enjoy-taking-carousels-spin"> <span class="s1">news article</span></a> on the finding of “play-like” behavior in fruit flies. The original <a href= "https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(25)00055-7?uuid=uuid:875a85ee-857c-4871-8954-949663622b42"> <span class="s1">study</span></a>.</p> <p class="p4">4:30 – For recents review of play by Dr. Burghardt and colleagues, covering the three major types of play, the five criteria for recognizing play, and many other topics, see <a href= "https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/21594937.2025.2464320"> <span class="s1">here</span></a>, <a href= "https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0149763424000861"> <span class="s1">here</span></a>, and <a href= "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40058418/"><span class= "s1">here</span></a>.</p> <p class="p4">12:00 – For more on Dr. Burghardt’s early research and hand-rearing of black bears, see <a href= "https://www.jstor.org/stable/3872585"><span class= "s1">here</span></a>.</p> <p class="p4">23:30 – For the recent study on ball play in bumble bees, see <a href= "https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003347222002366"> <span class="s1">here</span></a>.<span class= "Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <p class="p4">26:00 – For an example of studies examining self-handicapping, see <a href= "https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/21594937.2022.2152535?casa_token=HYTMQ6b8cMUAAAAA:6z4lkCb-w3JUkd
- Publication Date
- 2025-06-12T21:38:00+00:00
- Status
- completed
- Website
- https://manyminds.libsyn.com/the-primeval-soil-of-play
- Length
- 56:36
- File
- /podcasts/Many Minds/1749764280-5080.mp3
- Size
- 77.74 MB
- Bitrate
- 187-CBR
- Channels
- 1
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