But I just play because it's fun, I roll dice for fun, are you trying to tell me all this is a secret front for "training" ?
Some people continue playing a game even when it stops being fun, they are addicted to the reward mechanism in the game, and now the brain thinks that playing the game is a good way to work and provide for itself. I don't call that "play", its work, just not productive work.
Why is dice fun? Because your brain wants to map the pattern of the dice, trying to figure out how to get good rolls. You see that in most dice players, they develop a lot of superstition about what is good and bad dice, or how they always roll bad in critical moments etc. I'd assume that is from nature where you try to figure out what is a good nut to crack or where to find prey etc, basically a way to figure out useful patterns from random events.
Why would you feel calm and comfortable from a sunset? Probably to get you sleepy so you go find a place to sleep since there isn't much useful to do at night. That would be unrelated to play.
Anyway, most of our feelings comes from nature, we didn't evolve to be faulty, we evolved to do things efficiently, play is a part of efficiency. If it isn't for learning you would have to explain what it is more likely to be for. When kittens play and chase things or play fight with each other, do you think they are just wasting energy for no reason? No, they sharpen their senses and learn to hunt and fight.
As an adult, I find it fun and enjoyable to seek out sunsets I find the colors beautiful. I readily hike mountains just to enjoy a sunset. I watch a sunset and then go party till 3 am, so maybe it's got to do with finding a nice place to sleep, or maybe it's just nice that we have the ability to appreciate phenomenon without having to apply some rigorous concept to it. I'd fly 2/3 of the way around the world to watch a total eclipse.
Personally I think you might be clasping at straws trying to equate every pleasant experience to some type of reward function.
I'd go as far as saying if we worked this simply and predictably, then our lives would be much easier. We'd all be exercising for that dopamine hit, we'd all be going to bed early after a nice sunset, but we dont.
> Personally I think you might be clasping at straws trying to equate every pleasant experience to some type of reward function.
No, here I just focus on why play is fun, you tried to pivot to other pleasurable experiences. Unlike watching sunsets basically every animal plays around as kids, that play is therefore something that is directly related to survival of the fittest or we wouldn't see that everywhere. You need a really strong argument why for humans play doesn't fill that role when it fills that role for basically every other intelligent animal.
> I'd go as far as saying if we worked this simply and predictably, then our lives would be much easier
So you think humanity would be better off if nobody played around and discovered new things? We would be stuck as monkeys in trees then. Play is pivotal to humanity.
They’re one and the same thing. It’s a matter of language that makes them appear to be different things. Taking a dip in a pool can be considered play and it can also be pleasurable.
Play is enjoyable, not all enjoyable things are play. You started to add other enjoyable things into the argument about play.
> They’re one and the same thing
No they are not. Play is typically seen as what children do, or playing sports, or playing a game, or a competition. You can read the definitions here, none of them say that stuff like eating hotdogs is play unless it is an eating contest or other kind of game:
I do woodwork because I find it enjoyable but it’s also play time when I’m in my shop.
Language has limits. I bet you there are cultures which don’t distinguish between play and enjoyable activities and then we wouldn’t be sending each other links to merriam Webster.
Btw I don't disagree people learn from play, I just don't think it's the end goal of play.
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.
According to what definition? Play isn't indulgence, indulgence is a perfectly fine word and something completely different from play.