Wonderland

This book is an extended argument for that kind of clue: a folly, dismissed by many as a mindless amusement, that turns out to be a kind of artifact from the future. This is a history of play, a history of the pastimes that human beings have concocted to amuse themselves as an escape from the daily grind of subsistence. This is a history of what we

But fads big enough to transform global economies don’t tend to self-organize out of casual gossip. They usually require some kind of amplifier.

Because play is often about breaking rules and experimenting with new conventions, it turns out to be the seedbed for many innovations that ultimately develop into much sturdier and more significant forms.

a history that follows Brian Eno’s definition of culture as “all the things we don’t have to do.”)

When human beings create and share experiences designed to delight or amaze, they often end up transforming society in more dramatic ways than people focused on more utilitarian concerns.

But a surprising amount of modernity has its roots in another kind of activity: people mucking around with magic, toys, games, and other seemingly idle pastimes.

Delight is a word that is rarely invoked as a driver of historical change.

But if you are trying to figure out what’s coming next, you are often better off exploring the margins of play: the hobbies and curiosity pieces and subcultures of human beings devising new ways to have fun.

money has its own masters, and in many cases the dominant one is the human appetite for surprise and novelty and beauty.