Play Deeply
I could read that chapter of Deep Play another twenty times and each time uncover another meaning in Ms. Ackerman’s theory. Having the simple English word “play” dissected and traced back through its origins was fascinating to read.
I believe, as she said, we as a society have adopted a definition for “play” that puts it in a box and is seen as a leisure activity rather then a necessary function. It is no secret that humans love to play. We play with words and turn them into puzzles; we bet on trivial things and hold challenges in the office. We do these things out of an inborn yearning for competition. The simple act of tossing a wad a paper into the wastebasket instantly becomes a NBA event in which you are star. Hot Dogs are eaten in bulk and ugly dogs are voted on for no reason other then to stimulate the part of us that feeds off competition of any kind. Every year it seems there is a new contest (often in the form of a TV show) of physical endurance and adaptability that fills ones need for extreme play and adventure, without it becoming necessary for one to leave the comfort of home. This does not count as deep play in the way I believe Ms. Ackerman describes it. Deep play would be the individual actually living in the jungle for 6 months while daily engaging in highly competitive challenges while making friends with strangers and trusting no one.
She mentions animals that we have come to accept as playful; Dolphins and cats and birds, and what about those animals that express “play” in a way that we cannot relate to. Like pigs rolling in the mud, what if that is a form of pig play, or Owls “Hooting” couldn’t that be a secret owl game? Of course it cannot be proven, but if parrots can be taught to talk, and dolphins can understand us, is it really such a stretch to expect that all animals possess the ability to engage some form of play, deep or otherwise?
Sorry this should be the subject: ANROB2, blog 2.
Posted by sufficool1987 | August 26, 2011, 7:05 amResponse:
I personally dont know if i agree completely with Ms. Ackerman’s theory on play. For instance i believe we can turn anything into a playful activity but then again i think if the intention isnt there it cant really be considered play. To me play is a meaning of enjoying yourself or an activity your doing with others. She mentions also animals are a big part of play i agree with her on that because most animals enroll in playing with humans and even by their selves you can look at a dog and he’ll be laying down then you can turn around again and he can be playing with ahttp://humanities1.wordpress.com/2011/08/26/dceretgmail-com/ shoe lace or anything around him. To me play has more of a role on little kids and animals mostly domestic animals. I also agree play is an option to us and we cant really be forced into it.
And about the “Do schools kill creativity?” video i think it really depends on the kid but in part yes i do kind of agree that school kills creativity because i remember being in class and being silly with some friends and getting in trouble for it. Like some teachers make us think what we’re doing is wrong. I guess it is a form of educating children but they take the fun/ the playful meaning out of anything. Like how Ken Robinson kids are not afraid of being wrong and they’ll say just anything. “if your not prepared to be wrong you will never come up with something original” i think this is so true because that just the way life works you need to be creative and just go out for what you want even if there’s mistakes along the way. To me regardless of you becoming an adult yes it all gets more serious but just because your no longer a kid doesnt mean you cant be creative and speak whats on your mind becasue you might be wrong, sometimes a humans biggest mistake gets then just where they always wanted to be at the end.
-Yvette Gil Monday/Wednesday class Response.
Posted by Yvette Gil | January 25, 2012, 11:02 amResponse to Deep Play:
I read Deep Play and I couldn’t get the understanding of it and I don’t know if I agree or disagree with Ms. Ackerman response. I understand play that keeps people and students moving with activities of art, music, and dance.
” Do School kill creativity?” Yes. Because Creativity is the key of showing students how to be creative in each way. I’m creative when it comes to decoration. I’m not saying that I’m going to be a decorator, I’m saying that I can see what students or people want when they imagine how a cake is suppose to look like and how they want the colors to be, how they want the writing on the cake to say I see what they want the colors, image, decoration, sprinkles, and flavor to be. It’s like the committee and teachers have all these activities for students and once something goes wrong with it they want to banned it from the school, every student has a gift that they want to show to the world letting them know that I have gift of dancing, it might not be my goal or major but I love to dance to keep myself happy. Teachers want to do the best for “our students” and I think that some teachers need to stick to what they say about the schools and the students. It’s really hard to get the understanding of teachers from watching television or saying that they want to do what’s right for the students and students have a voice that need to be heard don’t make decisions for us come to us and ask us what do you think of this, what do you think of that. I want to do the best to bring out my inner self and speak about my experience with teachers and students. You can help the way you feel when it comes to schools activities and teachers your only human.
Posted by Jah'Meia J. Hill | January 27, 2012, 12:41 pmsorry forgot to put this Monday/Wednesday class.
Posted by Jah'Meia J. Hill | January 27, 2012, 12:42 pmResponse to E- Reserves 1A and 1B:
After reading the Deep Play article I was really amazed with the role that the Play actually have in human lives as well as animals. We play with each other without even noticing sometimes what we are actually doing, and sometimes just to pass time. Animals have the same behavior as humans. They play among themselves and they have a variety of ways of entertaining themselves depending upon what kind of animal they are. What I got from the articles is that play actually requires freedom.. for humans as well as animals. Overall, I agree with the author, because she showed in her article the importance of deep play in our lives as well as other beings, which was very interesting in my opinion.
I agree with Sir Ken Robinson when he said in the video that our academic curriculum totally ignores the values of art. Art is very important because art helps students stimulate their imagination and creativity. Although, there are different kinds of art, such as, music, dance, painting, and etc. Students must choose the kind of art the most interest them. Art must be taken into priority the same way Math and English are. But, above all I think that students must choose what classes they like and what really interest them. It doesn’t matter if it is sciences, math or humanities.
Posted by ANOLB1,Blog 1 | January 27, 2012, 4:59 pmI was understanding what the author was saying at first and I definitely agree on her whole theory of play and her explanation on how animals and humans play. But I wasn’t quite following her towards the end.
In “Do Schools Kill Creativity”, i like when he said if you’re not prepared to be wrong, you will never come up with anything original, and we grow up scared to be wrong. I have had an experience like that in school and I strongly agree with him. When I was going to school, I feel like when I made a mistake, I would be limited to think outside the box and do what I wanted to do. And I would be scared to step outside the line of the way they were educating us; if it wasn’t their way it was wrong. It took me a long time to get out of that habit and go ahead and be ok with making mistakes to learn from them. So I do feel like school kill creativity. They really restrict you if you’re doing something different, something is probably wrong with you or you’re weird.
Posted by Loredana | January 27, 2012, 7:57 pmAfter reading the article “Deep Play” by Ms. Ackerman, i made connections with some of the examples she used, which is great because it explains the roles of play. Play isn’t just useless, but it is practice for the real world. One of the examples she used was the one about how animals pounce on each other to practice hunting when they become older. Without play, these animals would not be ready to fend for themselves. I believe there can be play for everything. Whether is is playing in the park, or in video games there is some sort of practice for something that may be useful later in life.
In “Do Schools Kill Creativity” I agree with the article. This system of learning was set up back in the day, and is in need of some adjustments. Time has changed and the educational system just isn’t cracked up for what it is supposed to be. One example that was used that caught my attention was the one about how there is “cheating” and “collaboration” which I find to be a more appropriate word. I believe it is considered cheating when taking a test, but other than that, as long as everyone is trying to learn the same material, collaboration should be exercised. The way the system is set up is to keep kids in line and to think a certain way. Creativity is not really in the interest of the system, it is more like just producing competent workers to perform competent tasks.
-brennen duong humanities t/thu
Posted by brennen duong | January 29, 2012, 4:19 pmResponse to E- Reserve 2a and 2b JAHB2, BLOG 2
I read Jesper Juul ” Half-Real and I kept reading it to get the understanding of this and his book make since about video games, chess or any other games. Video games are like they have a story to tell and it depends on the concepts of the games ( the story of Link from “The Legend of Zelda”) The Legend of Zelda have been the popular game since in the 1990′s. It’s like Juul is saying that when it comes to video games it’s like there is quest you have to go to save the princess and there are untold stories to this game that you (the player) have to unlock, fight battles, solve riddles, do requests for new friends you meet the way. But there are rules to the game that you must follow in order to save the princess or you will head back to the beginning of the game. Juul brought out more informations and opinions on how games are and how the rules are set to it.
In Roger Callois ” Man, Play and Games” when I read this and started thinking what he was trying to say so I read it again and found out that winning is the best when you play chess or checkers but for these 2 games its takes patient and thinking to know when you are going to make the next move. But its just a game but sometimes players do takes it seriously and I’m like you can practice playing chess or checkers. Practice makes perfect.
Jah’Meia J. Hill Monday/Wednesday class
Posted by Jah'Meia J. Hill | February 3, 2012, 4:31 pmResponse to E-Reserve 2B.
**I couldn’t open the pdf file for E-Reserve 2A. **
In the article: Man, Play and Games – the author Roger Callois explains the different forms of games and how they differ from one another. First, he says that there are four different types of games and they are divided as such: Agon, Alea, Mimickry and Ilinx. Basically, the agon is a form of competitive game where there are winners and losers. The Alea is also known as the games of luck where the player rest his or her beliefs on fate. The mimickry is known as an imaginary kind of game, where the player believe in a world that don’t exist in real life. Lastly, the Illinx is also known as a disorienting kind of play, which is like going to a Theme Park and going on rides. Each different individual have their own preference in regards of these four kinds of play. And the author was trying to also show the reader that some form of games, such as, the agon and maybe the alea involves a certain level of skill in order to be successful in the game. And the other two types of games, such as the mimickry and Illinx, skill doesn’t really matter. And that’s the science behind the existent kinds of play.
Posted by ANOLB1,Blog 2 | February 3, 2012, 10:00 pmAfter reading the article “Deep Play,” I have a sense of what meaning in Ms. Ackerman’s theory is about. I agree with this theory. The word play can be used in varies terms of understanding the meaning. Play for me means when a group of people or just person a lone is having fun; but yet play can be a form of learning, a form of progressing. Play can be part of life, culture, and experience. Like mention on the article “we evolve through play. Our culture thrives on play” I think that with this she means the games we have are brought up by our background, we learn and pass it down even with play. Play being for of life is when for example when a cub play they are usually rough playing. They learn to defend themselves, how to attack, and to be strong.
About the “Do schools kill creativity?” video I think it varies depending on the kid and also the teacher. There are many teachers that believe that the best way of learning is by interacting and making the subject fun and interesting for the kid: In other words making it playful. And for me these were the reason I would stay in tune to the subject. Now referring back to the article play is a form of mind “ideas are playful reverberations of the mind.” By this I think it means that whenever we are thinking creatively, learning and getting curries we are doing a form of play. So when schools try to eliminate play from the education they are just stacking the students with subjects. I guess what I’m trying to say that play is a form of life.
Posted by ERCOb1,blog1 TUTH CLASS | February 4, 2012, 5:41 pmResponse to E-Reserves 3b JAHB3, BLOG3
I read Yi-Fu Tran Book Space and Place and one thing that came to mind was great. He really broke down about the meanings of the words “space”, “place”, and “experience”. Its like that he knows what people do in everyday life and know how people are (some). I kept reading this and its was very interesting that he put out and expand the word “space”. This is a good book. I like to see authors or writers break down the words sometimes because it helps me to get the meaning and understanding of this.
Jah’Meia J. Hill Monday/ Wednesday class
Posted by Jah'Meia J. Hill | February 10, 2012, 2:14 pmResponse to E-Reserve 3B:
I thought that Mr. Tuan’s work was a very complex, but interesting read. In “Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience,” Mr.Tuan provides a descriptive account of the concepts “space” and “place,” drawing on the work of phenomenologists, anthropologists, psychologists, geographers, and others. He grounds his analysis in a structuralist framework, using anthropological research to illustrate how our experiences of space and place can “transcend cultural particularities”. Tuan provides an original and intriguing discussion of a wide range of topics, such as the relationship between space and place, on the one hand, and myths, architecture, time, religion, and cognition, on the other.Furthermore, I think that Mr; Tuans’ work illuminates a wide and fertile field critical to an understanding how we are rooted to place and space.
Posted by ANOLB1,Blog 3 | February 10, 2012, 10:30 pmResponse to E-Reserve 3B:
This week’s reading dealt with the concept of “space” and “place,” as defined by author Yi-Fu Tuan.
In the first chapter of his novel, Space and Place, Tuan deals with the concept of how and why individuals become so attached to their “places.” tuan deals with how people experience and interrupt living spaces and places around them. How space is interrupted differently depending on cultural differences…
And even attempts to combine the question of how space, place, and time are all somehow related.
This book seems to have a definite following of people who are interested in the way people and buildings interact with one another. It would be interesting to read the book in its entirety.
Kody
Posted by David "Kody" Fagundes | February 11, 2012, 8:51 amResponse to E-Reserve 5A:
I read the reading Semiotics for Beginners : Signs By Daniel Chandler and at first I didn’t understand what he was saying about signs but I read more of it and see that its about signs that we see in our daily life everyday, the difference between signifier and signified (Saussure) and Peirce saying that there is nothing is a sign. These two philosophers have a different opinion about what signs are or not.
The video of Semiotics: The study of signs really broke it down for me to understand.
Jah’Meia Mondays/Wednesdays class
Posted by Jah'Meia J. Hill | February 24, 2012, 10:47 am