Wonderland by Steven Johnson
In popular historian Steven Johnson’s latest,he writes about How Play Made the Modern World [2].
His overall theme is not that humans are playful, but that play is productive (of both bad and good), and that many innovations and revolutions appear first as toys or amusements. He has a lot of interesting points, as well as some misunderstandings and blind spots.
While necessity is the mother of invention, “if you do a paternity test on many of the modern world’s most important ideas or institutions, you will find, invariably, that leisure and play were involved in the conception, as well.” ([2], p. 12)
- Steven Johnson, Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World, New York, Riverhead Books, 2016.
Sunday Tuesday Book Reviews
Readers of this blog know that I routinely post book reviews on Sunday.
This week I will post additional book reviews, one per day. These posts are somewhat longer and more detailed than my usual short note.
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