game, or a physical game, like soccer, or football, I don't have to put the ball in

the net to survive, and, even if I did, why would I invite a goalie and another team?

Games are weird- this lead Bernard Suits to say in the 70's that a game is a voluntary

attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles. So, why do we play sports and games? How should

we feel about intellectualism vs. athleticism? But, most importantly, why do Americans called

this game soccer while the English, and the rest of the world, call it Football?

It turns out that the word "soccer" doesn't come from the United States of America. Instead,

the blame for the word goes to the British themselves, specifically Oxford, where, since

1875, it has been popular to add the suffix "-er" to the end of words. For example, calling

Radcliffe Camera the "Radder," or these "fivers" and "ten-ers."

We have been playing games with balls and our feet ever since ancient times, all over

the world. In fact, as recently as 200 years ago, many of these games called themselves

"football." A lack of standardization meant that it was difficult to all come together

and agree on what you could and couldn't do with the ball or your feet. But, luckily,

in 1863 the Football Association was founded in London, England. Association football is

what we most commonly mean nowadays when talking about football, or soccer. But what's the connection

if the Oxford "-er" was added to Association football, shouldn't we be calling the game

"Association-er?" Well, let's take a closer look at the word "association." You see what's

hiding in there? There she is- "soccer."

But, we're getting ahead of ourselves because soccer, football, is just one type of game.

Ultimately, what is a game? Well, one of my favorite ways of defining "game" comes from

computer game designer Chris Crawford. Let's begin with a book- this is a great book, it's

really fun, it's entertaining, but it's not a game. TV shows and movies are also not games

because, fundamentally, they aren't interactive. But, as soon as something is both fun and

interactive, well, now we've got ourselves a play-thing. There are two types of play-things,

according to Crawford: If you can play with the object and it's fun but there's no goal

or objective associated with it, it's a toy. If, however, there is an objective, something

you're supposed to accomplish, well, now you're talking about a challenge. But there are two

different types of challenges. If the challenge involves no other people or other agents,

it's just you, for instance, playing alone with a Rubik's Cube, you've got yourself a

puzzle. If, however, there are other people involved, well, now we've got ourselves a

conflict.

In a conflict, like a foot race, you aren't allowed to interfere with the other participants.

This is what Crawford calls a "competition." If, however, you are allowed to interact with,

and interfere with the other players, and they can do the same to you, well, in that

case, we are talking about a full-fledged game.

So, a game is interactive, goal-oriented, and involves other agents, for instance, other

people who can interfere with and influence each other. Which means, technically speaking,

that life is a game. I mean, real life. My life, your life, easily fit many definitions

of "game." And, in life, there are games that we tend to call "sports." Now, competency

at sports can divide humanity into two groups: Jocks, who are good at sports, and nerds

who aren't. Jock's are literally named after the Jock Strap, which keeps your genitals

supported while being athletic. But Jocks are cool, right? They're fit, attractive,

they get invited to all the cool parties where, in high school, they can do dangerous, cool

things like get drunk. And who are you if you don't get drunk? Well, what's the word

"drunk" backwards? You are a "Knurd." But that's not the origin of the word "nerd."

There's much debate about where the word comes from, but, what we do know is that it emerged

as a slang term for "lame" or "square" in Detroit in the early 1950's.

The first known use of the word in print came from Dr. Seuss himself, and, fundamentally,

it may come from the word "nut," which meant a crazy person, and was later altered to "nert,"

and, finally, "nerd." It exists today as a word for un-athletic people largely because it

was popularized through its frequent use on the US TV show "Happy Days."

Whether your spend your time on athletic pursuits or intellectual pursuits, or both, games,

in some form, are a part of your life. So, why do we play games? Humans, and many other

animals, play. And, perhaps, "play" originated as a way of physically preparing our bodies

for life's real challenges later on. That idea makes sense, but the evidence isn't convincing

because, in the wild, "play" can often lead to a wasting of precious resources, injuries,

and hardly comes close to simulating real attacks and life-threatening situations.

The New York Times wrote a great article about this conundrum, pointing out that physically

preparing the body may be less of a priority for "play." Instead, the point of "play" might

be preparing the brain. Play is good for the brain, especially during formative, juvenile

years when most of us have an instinctive urge to goof around, play, and pretend anyway.

Young Rats confined to cages with adult rats who refused to play with them grew up with

smaller, less developed brains. This has led to the hypothesis that games play a role in

the development of certain brain structures, especially the cerebellum when we are young.

But, to be clear, the evidence does not show that play is vital for the development of

these regions. Other methods, like exercises or teaching, may have a similar effect.

They might not be as fun, but this is known as equifinality. So there's debate as to just

how vital play and games really are. Well, let's take a look at the rewards that games

give us.

In the first half of the 20th century, Abraham Maslow constructed a hierarchy of human needs.

The concept is popular in developmental psychology as a way of thinking about human growth and

what motivates us to do things, or, to not do things. In general, until the needs of

a lower tier are fulfilled, an individual can't move on to fulfilling higher ones. For

instance, achieving confidence, or satisfying the desire to learn and explore, aren't important

to a person in fear for their life and safety. Play might be motivated by higher needs. Animals

play, but as we've seen in nature, not the ones who are stressed or starving.

The thing is, lower needs tend to be pretty clear cut. If I'm hungry and I eat what I

need, I'm done. It's not that complicated. But, as creatures, and brains, and cultures

become more complicated, so do their needs and the behaviors required to fulfill them.

This brings us back to the fact that life, itself, fits Chris Crawford's definition of

a game. Arguably, life is the largest and most complicated game on Earth. But playing

your life usually isn't as easy as simply remembering to eat, and drink, and breath.

In life, knowing what the correct next move is isn't always easy. Feedback is rarely immediate.

I don't know if the choices I made were the best, most perfect choices for me until way

after I've made them, if even then. Is this person, or city, or career right for me? In

life, the rules are complicated, the goals are indeterminate, and the methods for achieving

them are often unknown or different for every single person. Plus, the rewards, themselves,

are often slow to come or non-existent.

So, in the face of all of that, it's no surprise that we invented games within the larger game

of life, itself, that ensure fast, easy-to-achieve, and understandable rewards.

Animals play too, but the complexity of rules humans follow in their games, in many ways,

reflect the complexity of the needs we find ourselves able to pursue.

In life, I don't always know the right choice, I don't know the right job to apply for, how

to explain something to a child, how to best help my friends, or when to call my mom. But

in Bomberman I know exactly what every power-up does, every time, all-the-time.

In Poker a royal flush beats two-of-a-kind, no question about it- couldn't be more clear.

But, in my life, is an acquaintance or colleague really on my side? Well, in team sports, there's

no unknown- everyone is color-coded.

Games and sports are a phenomenal way to feel the rewards we need without all of the unknowns

of life. Even watching games and sports, merely being a spectator, can fulfill some of Maslow's

needs. I can feel a sense of belonging by supporting a team, and, by supporting a team,

their successes can kind of become my successes.

What a great way to get respect without doing a lot of work. It's known as BIRG-ing: Basking

In Reflected Glory. The opposite is CORF-ing- Cutting Off Reflected Failure. If a team is

disgraced, I can easily say I was not really ever that big of a fan anyway.

BIRG-ing and CORF-ing extend beyond sports. We BIRG and CORF workplace projects, school

projects, celebrities, election candidates- the point is, life is a game, but winning

and losing are nebulous. So, we invented simpler games to provide psychological rewards faster,

and more efficiently than life itself does. Which is why, at their darkest, games can

lead to procrastination, or addiction.

But don't fear, you have the potential to become a jock at the game of life, it's just

not always that fun. And whenever you play man-made games, rest assured that it's simply

because you, and all of us, are able to pursue the fulfillment of needs higher than any other

creature on Earth. And, as always, thanks for watching.

Oh, and if you want some soccer science, why not check my video with Copa90 where we investigate

whether or not it's possible to kick a football with so much spin that it not only curves,

but boomerangs back to the kicker. Ok, bye.