The Evolutionary Purpose of Fun

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Animals as simple as bees and as complex as you and me… like to have fun. But what’s the point of fun? Do all animals have fun? And for that matter, what is fun?

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[besmart]

What's the strangest thing YOU do for fun?
Thanks for watching!

[rosesmith]

I'm always amazed at what sets different people's dopamine into action. What is "play" for one is boring or nothing to another 🤔

[Phoenix]

Raising little kittens to adult cats was a beautiful experience for me. Watching them play gave me so much joy, even though I was always aware they're pretending to kill each other.

[OrdinarySpeaker]

"Having fun means learning to be human" as a statement on its own also hits really hard.
Thanks for the great video!

[TheSphongleface]

Fun is associating the use of a skill with the practice of movements, despite it seeming completely wasted. It's like lifting weights. It doesn't make anything useful there and then, you're just putting it back exactly where you found it, but you get a small amount better at it every time. Having fun together is mostly testing each other's limits to strengthen the social bonds that keep us safe from other creatures, and other people too.

[disky]

I'm so grateful to live in an age when we have such broad and varied access to entertaining educational programming. Thanks to you Joe, and to Hank, Ze, Dianna, Sabine, Danielle and everyone else with a passion for science communication. You make the world a better place.

[critiqueofthegothgf]

play has fundamental value; not instrumental value. it's not done as a means to something else, but a basic condition for life itself. life doesn't play because it believes playing is going to eventually lead to something else, we do it because of the value of the activity itself. it's beautiful.

[marcovallejo]

You got my like at the bee saying "Calle me Mbeepé".

[Pfhorrest]

This reminds me of some recent philosophical work of mine: pleasure is the feeling of succeeding. So, getting good at things, not because you have to, but just for its own sake, whether or not that's something you're going to need to be good at later, is pleasant, enjoyable, fun. And that's what play is: just trying to succeed at some arbitrary non-obligatory action. Because being good feels good.

[aedof]

That study on bee play behavior was fascinating! I used it as the basis for my final project in an animal behavior course last semester.

[zaubergarden]

This should be watched back-to-back with a video by Big Think that just got suggested to me: how money can "buy" happiness.
Same strategy to invest in experiences that pay off later, again and again by remembering, reliving them and telling the stories.
In this case it's playing to build up skills that pay off later.

[wisesquirrel]

I love it when one of the claims of these videos is one of the conclusions I personally arrived on prior to watching said video. Feels so validating.

[SolaceEasy]

Point missed: Directly state that making learning fun is an extremely effective way of learning.

[KraftyKittenz]

I do like the new set. The subtle logo in the wood is lovely.

[Beryllahawk]

I think for some of us, the learning itself gives some dopamine too, and thus learning is "fun" - but that doesn't apply to every brain, at least that seems to be the case. I'm content to be one of the "weird" folks that actually enjoys learning even now in my fourth decade of living. Nerds Are Good!

[absolutegaming]

I like his videos because the question he asks are so fundamental yet so complex to answer its so fascinating and amazing

[ericswain]

Fun and Amusement are a kind of safety valve, the more complicated and stressful one's life is the more desire or need for Fun and or Play, Amusement.

[paulweber]

I love the set! Absolutely love the logo cut into those screens or wall or cabinet, whatever it is. Been a Galaxy Brain supporter for over three years now. Stoked to see our support manifest in all the ways it does. Love you Joe!!

[JarrodCoombes]

Thank you for making sure to mention Lovelace as equal designer for the difference machine.

[bilalrasool]

this would explain why some people genuinely enjoy learning something new.