Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 8.djvu/398

 WORK AND PLAY IN ADJUSTMENT TO THE SOCIAL

ENVIRONMENT. NOTES ON GROOS'S "THE PLAY OF MAN."

GROOS, in accord with current theory, distinguishes work from play by the degree of freedom which the actor feels in the initiation and continuance of his activities. One who is con- strained to the performance of a certain task, who has no option in the matter, who is compelled to co-ordinate all of his powers in attaining any end, is said to be working. It is essentially the same in effect whether this compulsion is enforced from with- out, as when the master forces his vassal to apply himself to any undertaking, or whether it originates within as a profound need that must be ministered to in the way of securing food or cloth- ing or shelter. When a horse is forced to run under the lash of its rider, or when he runs to escape from enemies or to get food, he is working; but when he is turned into the meadow at night and speeds away at his liveliest gait, he is playing, for he could cease acting at any moment if he chose he feels free to do or not to do and he is performing just for the delight of the activity itself. Again, when a hungry cat is foraging for food, it is work- ing; there is no spontaneity, no freedom in this act; it must hunt; but when this feeling of coercion is lacking, and the cat is going through all the motions of the chase with a ball of yarn on the floor, simply because it finds pleasure in being active in this way, and not because it is thereby attaining ends essential to self- preservation, then this is play.

It is generally recognized that the young of practically all animals, of the higher species at any rate, perform many activities that do not appear to be directly and immediately serviceable in self-preservation ; and these, Groos shows clearly enough, are for the most part but a more or less exact repetition of the serious activities of the ancestors of the animals at some period in their evolution. Often these activities constitute a rehearsal for the life which the actors will be obliged to live in maturity. The

382