What’s the Point If We Can’t Have Fun?
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What’s the Point If We Can’t Have Fun?
A Chinese philosophical work called The Secret of the Golden Flower says that “when purpose has been used to achieve purposelessness, the thing has been grasped.” For a society surviving to no purpose is one that makes no provision for purposeless behavior—that is, for actions not directly aimed at survival, which fulfill themselves in being done i
... See moreAlan Watts • The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are
Fun,” he writes, “turns out to be fun even if it doesn’t involve much (or any) enjoyment.
Nir Eyal • Indistractable
The reason nothing has felt interesting to me, I thought, is that I’ve forgotten the most important thing for me: the path of maximal interestingness is supposed to feel like fun . Not fun as in “I feel entertained” but fun as in, “this is engrossing and self-surprising, life-affirming and a little scary.” Fun, the way Eno and Byrne are having fun ... See more
A funny thing about curiosity
Play, which I would define as anything we do simply for the joy of doing rather than as a means to an end – whether it’s flying a kite or listening to music or kicking around a football – might seem like a non-essential activity. Often it is treated that way. But in fact play is essential in many ways. Stuart Brown, the founder of the National Inst
... See moreGreg Mckeown • Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
What would it mean to live more playfully? First, it would require us to reject work that is not intrinsically motivating and to build working conditions that are joyfully engaging. Second, it would require that we de-emphasise the importance of work for finding personal fulfilment and meaning in our lives. Despite work being central to who we are
... See moreAlec Stubbs • The Achievement Society Is Burning Us Out, We Need More Play
Seriousness saddles the work with a burden. It misses the playful side of being human. The chaotic exuberance of being present in the world. The lightness of pure enjoyment for enjoyment’s sake. In play, there are no stakes. No boundaries. No right or wrong. No quotas for productivity. It’s an uninhibited state where your spirit can run free.