Human Evolution, Movement, and Intelligence: Why Playing Games Counts as Smart

ABSTRACT

The article investigates several ways in which creating, entering, and playing games requires uniquely human levels of intelligence. It examines an element of our evolutionary heritage and the possibility that games (particularly in the form of sport) were among the first elements of culture. It describes sport as a “way of knowing,” a species of intellection that permeates expertise in all domains of human behavior. Finally, it evaluates the credentials of sport as a form of communication, a way of seeking and sharing meaning, a method by which we tell our stories. This portrayal shows how and why sporting acts transcend animal play, mechanical movements, habitual behavior, and any prudential rationale related to self-preservation, health, and fitness. In short, it explains why playing games counts as smart.

KEYWORDS:

• Intelligence
• evolution
• games
• play

Notes

1. The intellectualist legend takes a number of different forms—most of them dualistic. Mind is radically different than body, mind is more valuable than body, thinking precedes and legitimates doing, and verbal communications are more intellectually impressive than physical communications. These positions are identified as “legends” because such dualistic interpretations, at least since the time of Descartes (1637/1641/1960), have been difficult to defend.

2. It is interesting to note that very young children cannot understand the logic of games. For early game participation, they undoubtedly rely largely on mimicry rather than the appreciation of metaphor. Piaget (1962) observed that it is around age 7 that children can grasp the full logic of game rules and their significance in constructing and playing games. This fact from developmental psychology provides further evidence for claims in this article for the impressive levels of intelligence required for playing games.