Play: “an irrepressible human need”

It was once possible to think that play was completely separate from “reality”. During the 20th century, that clear boundary between the two became more difficult to delineate and in the 21st century, play has entirely penetrated the tools we use for work and in our daily lives, like computers and smartphones. What’s more, we fear gambling addictions and perverse effects caused by overly realistic games may erupt into our anything-but-playful “reality” and cause untold damage. It is “play”: an unstable and pervasive dimension that forces us to re-consider categories created by maestros such as Johan Huizinga, Roger Caillois and Umberto Eco. The latter declared that play (together with nourishment, sleep, affection and “asking why”) is one of the five fundamental human needs. From dice to consoles and emoticons, we see he cannot be proved wrong.