Stuart Brown thinks so. He's an M.D. and the president of the National Institute for Play. No, seriously (if that's not an oxymoron), he believes that "pleasurable, purposeless activity prevents violence and promotes trust, empathy, and adaptability to life's complication." Check this out, particularly the Peaceable Kingdom slideshow of spontaneous, affectionate play between a sled dog and a wild polar bear.
Anybody who has cats has given this some deep thought.
Yes, and the deep thought I've given it is: Play with them now, so that they'll be too exhausted to rip up the bedskirt at four in the morning.
Posted by: Tom Strong | September 25, 2007 at 12:32 AM
No doubt the dog and the bear were both well-fed at the time. Once they get hungry, the dog is going to start looking more and more like a snack.
Painful truth: Life is conflict. Only the dead have any peace.
Posted by: Icepick | September 25, 2007 at 12:50 PM
The dead and the full. But full, unlike dead, is a temporary condition.
By the way, the guy narrating the slideshow claimed that the bear was just out of hibernation and was hungry. Like you, I doubt it. Unless that polar bear is the one whose mama always told him, "Don't play with your food!"
Posted by: amba | September 25, 2007 at 12:58 PM