My childhood play took me to extremes, and all of them, I now understand, were a fun way to test the social realities into which one is born. Surely this is a most important evolutionary function of play—finding out what is fun and fair or not fair on the field of life. – Jaak PankseppContinue reading “A Quote on Play and Evolution”
Tag Archives: evolution
A Culture of Play
A Culture of Play This new book is a collection of my research and writings on improvisation. Some of the chapters are familiar, but there are several new unpublished works in these pages. Please take a look at the link. There is a preview. Happy New Year and Enjoy!!! Now I can sleep for aContinue reading “A Culture of Play”
What Connects Us? (Chapter 1, section 1)
In the Ever-Changing Maze: Introduction In Greek mythology, there is the story of Daedalus constructing a maze for King Minos of Crete in order to hold the Minotaur, a half man-half bull hybrid. The Minotaur was born from a union of Minos’ wife and a bull, which was payback from the gods for Minos’ greed.Continue reading “What Connects Us? (Chapter 1, section 1)”
Improvisation and the Evolution of Memes
[This is a segment of an article in development] Variation, one of the essential parts of the theory of evolution, is all about mistakes. Selection is about those mistakes being discarded or used. In improvisation, whether a mistake is useful or should be passed on depends on the social and contextual environment of the currentContinue reading “Improvisation and the Evolution of Memes”
The Evolution of Language
Robin Dunbar is amazing. I just finished his book Grooming, Gossip and the Evolution of Language, and it was an eye-opening, insightful and compelling read. The main points of the book are that language evolved as a result of the pressure to keep and maintain social ties in larger primate groups. Once that begins toContinue reading “The Evolution of Language”
Improvisation: the Original Survival Tool
When it came down to it, mother nature laid the smackdown on early Homo Sapiens. We arrive in the archeological record about 200,000 years ago. About 90,000 years ago, Africa’s climate became extremely arid in a very short time leading to a resource crisis. No food and no water means no surviving for many ofContinue reading “Improvisation: the Original Survival Tool”
Brad Fortier 