Playing

Everyone knows that play means doing something we enjoy, or find amusing.

What I wonder is why we find something enjoyable, or amusing?

Obviously it is not the same thing for everyone.

Many people play video games and most of the ones I have found involve shooting something. I suppose the instinct for hunting might be in our genes as a survival need from the past, but does the joy come from developing a skill that could save our lives, or is it the satisfaction of doing something well?  Would we be just as happy playing a game where a bird swoops in to eat bugs, or arrows hit targets, or does it have to be a human killing something?

How can the horrors of war be converted into the joy of war? Why does a book entertain us with stories about evil, or treachery, or things that cause pain? What is it about soap operas that amuses people.

Why do we find pleasure in breaking the rules, or watching people commit crimes via games and movies, or books?

What is it in our psyches that finds the "shalt nots" so intriguing?

What is it that finds repetitive things like playing catch so compelling?

Playing or entertaining ourselves is a pretty complicated concept.