This article is excerpted from: The Game Man: A Study of the Game Elements of Culture
Author: John Sheizinha
Translator: Fu Cunliang
"The Man who Plays" seems to be the first monograph to study games from multiple angles and levels from the perspective of cultural science and cultural history, divided into 12 chapters, expounding the nature, meaning, definition, concept and function of games, and expounding the relationship between games and many social and cultural phenomena, mainly games and myths, rituals, laws, wars, poetry, knowledge, myths, philosophies, and various artistic disciplines.
In addition to this, John Sheizimha paid special attention to the decline of the spirit of play in the modern West. He expressed grave concern about the clouds of war, his extreme indignation at fascism's violation of the rules of the game under international law, his hope that human society and culture would continue to grow in the game, and that people would learn to make better use of leisure. He called fascists and politicians the saboteurs and "spoilers" of international politics, accusing them of the destruction of civilization.
Before the end of the book, the author John Heizinha makes this cautionary statement: "Thus, after a tortuous road, one comes to the conclusion that true civilization cannot exist in the absence of a game component or a lack; this is because the precondition of civilization is the limitation and control of the self, and civilization cannot confuse its tendencies with the ultimate supreme goal, but must realize that civilization is enclosed within a specific range of voluntary acceptance." In a certain sense, civilization always has to abide by the rules of the game, and real civilization always needs fair games. Fair play is the firm belief expressed in the conditions of the game. So the fraudsters and spoilers in the game crush civilization itself. ”
Heyzinha was not the first to study games, and in his time there was already a great deal of research in physiology and psychology on animal games, children's games, and adult games. Some theories argue that the origin of the game is the catharsis of excess vitality, others that it is the satisfaction of some "imitation instinct", others that it is nothing more than a "need" for pastime, and others that it is the training of young living beings for serious work in future life.
The starting point of these theories, Hejzinha argues, assumes that the game must be serving something that is not a game, and that their attempts to explore the causes of the game are only one-sided answers to the question.
"Even the simplest forms of play on the animal level are not just physical phenomena or psychological reactions." He points out, "If we call the active ingredients that make up the essence of the game 'instinct,' it means there is no explanation for anything." ”
He argues that the game itself has immaterial character, but that "if it is called 'thought' or 'will', it is inevitable to over-interpret." Thus, Heizinha's study of games began at the end of biology and psychology.
It seems to anticipate the reader's reaction that the seriousness of the ritual is sublime and sacred, and is this still a game? Here, Heizinha borrows Plato's view: "Extreme seriousness is only god-worthy, and man is a god-made doll, and that is the best use of man." Therefore, men and women are required to live according to this, to play the noblest games, and to reach a different spiritual state than the present. ”
He greatly appreciated Plato's view of equating the game with the divine, calling the sacred a game, arguing that we "can act both under and above it—in the realm of beauty and in the realm of the sacred."
But Heizimha is also wary of us extending the concept of the game too much, thinking that all religions, rituals, witchcraft, worship, communion, occult rites, etc. are all games.
"When it comes to abstract concepts, it's important not to play word games." Heizimha was extremely careful in discussing the idea that rituals were games. Step by step, he asked, "Is the resemblance of games and rituals purely limited to form?" "To what extent is this religious activity in the form of games carried out with the posture and mentality of the game?" "To what extent is one of the essential characteristics of the game, the consciousness of 'just pretending', compatible with the ritual activities held religiously?" He cites a great deal of research by anthropologists on festivals, ancient religious rituals, and barbarian rituals, and concludes that rituals are what Plato called games. "We follow him, never abandoning the mystical experience of holiness and insisting on viewing it as the noblest emotion that logical thinking cannot recognize."
It can be said that Heizimha wants to use games to find a way out for human civilization. In another work by Heizinha, The Decline of the Middle Ages, it can be seen that Hess spent his whole life thinking about the way out of civilization and how man could transcend the harsh reality.
He proposed three paths to a better life: the ideal of religion on the other side, the improvement of the real world, and the dream, that is, the surreal path. And "The Man of the Game" embodies his third path, which is the surreal approach.
He doesn't see games as merely an escape from reality, which in his view embodies the human impulse to transcend reality. "If we think that the world is completely dominated by blind forces, the game is purely superfluous—only if the torrent of spirit washes away the cosmic determinism of doing whatever it wants, the game can exist, and we can imagine the game and understand the game." It is precisely because of the existence of games that the nature of human society beyond logical reasoning has been continuously confirmed. ”
This article is reproduced for Peking University Public Communications
The copyright belongs to the author
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