Jonathan Haidt

Yes. So I have a whole chapter, really two chapters that focus on play in the book. It's really important to understand our evolutionary story. So we're mammals. And what mammals are is mammals is a way of having huge investment in a child. So the female literally makes milk from her skin. I mean, it's a miracle, but that's what evolution figured out how to do.

So you've got these long childhoods where the female is literally producing food for the child. It goes on a long time. Mammals are very smart. We have large brains. And the smarter a mammal is, or the larger brains it is, the more sociable it is. So the really sociable animals, so humans, dogs, chimpanzees, they have big brains, very, very social. How do you wire up that brain?

So you've got these long childhoods where the female is literally producing food for the child. It goes on a long time. Mammals are very smart. We have large brains. And the smarter a mammal is, or the larger brains it is, the more sociable it is. So the really sociable animals, so humans, dogs, chimpanzees, they have big brains, very, very social. How do you wire up that brain?

So you've got these long childhoods where the female is literally producing food for the child. It goes on a long time. Mammals are very smart. We have large brains. And the smarter a mammal is, or the larger brains it is, the more sociable it is. So the really sociable animals, so humans, dogs, chimpanzees, they have big brains, very, very social. How do you wire up that brain?

The genes don't tell it how to grow. The genes just start the ball rolling. The brain gets wired up in play. Mammal babies, mammal children practice the things they're going to need as adults. We have a puppy now. Well, she's two, but puppyish. They practice the, I'm going to grab the bone and run away with it. You have to chase me.

The genes don't tell it how to grow. The genes just start the ball rolling. The brain gets wired up in play. Mammal babies, mammal children practice the things they're going to need as adults. We have a puppy now. Well, she's two, but puppyish. They practice the, I'm going to grab the bone and run away with it. You have to chase me.

The genes don't tell it how to grow. The genes just start the ball rolling. The brain gets wired up in play. Mammal babies, mammal children practice the things they're going to need as adults. We have a puppy now. Well, she's two, but puppyish. They practice the, I'm going to grab the bone and run away with it. You have to chase me.

It's a game, but it lets her practice her grab the meat and run strategy. It's great fun. So we all play. And if you were, and study, research has, they've done this. You take rhesus monkeys and you don't let them play. You raise them without play. They come out socially deformed. They're anxious. You put them in a new environment. They're very fearful.

It's a game, but it lets her practice her grab the meat and run strategy. It's great fun. So we all play. And if you were, and study, research has, they've done this. You take rhesus monkeys and you don't let them play. You raise them without play. They come out socially deformed. They're anxious. You put them in a new environment. They're very fearful.

It's a game, but it lets her practice her grab the meat and run strategy. It's great fun. So we all play. And if you were, and study, research has, they've done this. You take rhesus monkeys and you don't let them play. You raise them without play. They come out socially deformed. They're anxious. You put them in a new environment. They're very fearful.

They're kind of like those college students who showed up on campus in 2014, 2015. Much more fearful, much more anxious, much poorer social skills. So play is an absolute essential. If you think your kid needs vitamin C, of course he does. If you don't give your kid vitamin C, he's gonna develop rickets and have all kinds of deformities.

They're kind of like those college students who showed up on campus in 2014, 2015. Much more fearful, much more anxious, much poorer social skills. So play is an absolute essential. If you think your kid needs vitamin C, of course he does. If you don't give your kid vitamin C, he's gonna develop rickets and have all kinds of deformities.

They're kind of like those college students who showed up on campus in 2014, 2015. Much more fearful, much more anxious, much poorer social skills. So play is an absolute essential. If you think your kid needs vitamin C, of course he does. If you don't give your kid vitamin C, he's gonna develop rickets and have all kinds of deformities.

We need vitamin C. Play is vitamin P. If you don't give your kids play, they're gonna come out anxious and socially stunted. And so the best kind of play is not with an adult, It's with other kids, ideally mixed ages, because then the older kids have to look out for the younger kids. The younger kids are trying to look mature for the older kids. They're not going to want to cry and be a baby.

We need vitamin C. Play is vitamin P. If you don't give your kids play, they're gonna come out anxious and socially stunted. And so the best kind of play is not with an adult, It's with other kids, ideally mixed ages, because then the older kids have to look out for the younger kids. The younger kids are trying to look mature for the older kids. They're not going to want to cry and be a baby.

We need vitamin C. Play is vitamin P. If you don't give your kids play, they're gonna come out anxious and socially stunted. And so the best kind of play is not with an adult, It's with other kids, ideally mixed ages, because then the older kids have to look out for the younger kids. The younger kids are trying to look mature for the older kids. They're not going to want to cry and be a baby.

So when kids are playing in a group, that is the most nutritious thing that they can do. And most of us, you know, I'm older than you. I was born in 1963. But, you know, those of us born in the 60s and 70s or so in the 50s, you know, we all grew up outside playing with other kids. And there was a crime wave. I mean, it's not as though the world was perfectly safe back then.

So when kids are playing in a group, that is the most nutritious thing that they can do. And most of us, you know, I'm older than you. I was born in 1963. But, you know, those of us born in the 60s and 70s or so in the 50s, you know, we all grew up outside playing with other kids. And there was a crime wave. I mean, it's not as though the world was perfectly safe back then.

So when kids are playing in a group, that is the most nutritious thing that they can do. And most of us, you know, I'm older than you. I was born in 1963. But, you know, those of us born in the 60s and 70s or so in the 50s, you know, we all grew up outside playing with other kids. And there was a crime wave. I mean, it's not as though the world was perfectly safe back then.

It was actually more dangerous. A lot safer now, very little crime now compared to when I was a kid. But kids need that play. And so my book is actually a tragedy in two acts. In act one, We eliminate the play-based childhood in the 1990s. We freak out about child abduction. We think if I ever let my kid out, he'll be abducted. There'll be a man in a white van.