Great article! Playwright, poet and philosopher Friederich Schiller argued that humans possess a certain “play drive” that mediates between our physical needs and our rational desires, which—when properly harnessed, enables us to produce elevating works of art.

As he famously put it: “Man only plays when he is in the fullest sense of the word a human being; and he is only fully a human being when he plays.”

What about its broader cultural impact? Here is where Dutch cultural historian Johan Huizinga makes his boldest conclusion: It’s not simply that all cultures “happen to” contain play and games, he says—it’s that everything that we typically view as “cultural” in our societies—from storytelling to ritualized performance to the creation of great works of art—naturally developed from our primeval urge to play. Our play instinct, in other words, therefore precedes culture—it’s the primordial force that makes all cultural flowering possible in the first place.

Make sure to watch THROUGH THE MIRROR OF CHESS: A CULTURAL EXPLORATION to learn more about the remarkable historical, cultural and social impact of play, chess and other games: https://ideasroadshow.com/chess/.