I am curious, though, why some people don't seem to remember how to play. I am also interested in any potential correlation (I believe there is one) between the ability to play and one's resiliency in new and challenging situations. This would be an interesting test: hand someone a gadget--for the sake of conversation, let's say it's an iPod from Apple. Tell the person that it has music on it and walk away. How do they go about learning how to use the thing? Do they ask for a manual? Do they start pushing and sliding? How quickly can they begin listening to music?

I believe that whatever success the subjects of this imaginary research project might have would be in part due to the industrial design of the gadget--some tools just seem intuitive. What I'm interested in, though, is the curiosity quotient--that desire to push/pull/observe until the logical structure is figured out. In my experience, such a tendency will make someone tremendously valuable to any organization. Someone who can play with a problem until it is solved will always outperform (in the long run) someone who is attempting to follow a recipe for the solution. In our increasingly complex world of information and knowledge, the ingredients change too quickly for any hard and fast recipe to have true value.

So how do I encourage such play in a course environment? Is it unfair to make it a major component of my pedagogy? There are those who are tremendously uncomfortable with creative play as a method of discovery. Is it important enough a skill to mandate its use, or is it a preference to be supported but not required? What do you think? [Stand Up Eight]