[gnramires]

It's probably not something you secretly wish when playing, and perhaps for the best (that you don't have fun and enjoy things always with an ulterior motive, except enjoying the experiences). I guess he's saying in the sense of the natural function of play, and we playing is mostly a consequence of the natural function. It's also very much true that we learn a lot, perhaps a significant chunk of what we learn is through play[1], so it's also undeniable that we do learn from play, even if humans have this great gift -- we are able to understand the nature of things (such as play) and choose to do them just for the sake of experiences, fun, joy, happiness, etc..

Which we should (finally :) ) recognize to be the source of all meaning.

We still should learn (and do practical stuff in general) because it supports our inner lives, including building technology, producing things (buildings, infrastructure) that support us and indeed enables our (inner) lives.

[1] Also of note humans, unlike LLMs, can learn all the time, we don't have a hard "training phase". It's true brain plasticity decays, and it becomes harder to learn as we age, but we can still learn more or less quickly at any age. This is why dedicating childhood to learning (as well as play) is natural.

[bamboozled]

I'm conscious I have to types of play though, I'm fully conscious sometimes play can be about learning and training, it's why I ski more difficult terrain than I'm comfortable with, but then I might go eat a massive bowl of pasta and have a glass or three of wine. On an intellectual level, I know there are healthy more rewarding things to eat. I know wine isn't great for me at those quantities. But I consciously make the choice to do it because it's fun.

[Jensson]

I don't think that many calls indulging in food or bodily needs "play". Those are just core rewards, play is an active activity that is fun without being directly related to your survival, like eating is.

[Hasu]

Eating ice cream instead of stale bread is absolutely play, just like running around on a soccer field is play even though running is a survival skill.

[Jensson]

> Eating ice cream instead of stale bread is absolutely play

According to what definition? Play isn't indulgence, indulgence is a perfectly fine word and something completely different from play.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/play

[gnramires]

Yes, although I say, if you can make your play healthy as well as fun, might as well :)