NT’s in the Myers-Briggs personality test are known to not be very fun-loving. “To the NT,” says the description, “work is work and play is work.”
Suits me to a tee. First, I work a lot. And I don’t play a lot. Who has time to play when there’s so much work to do? Even when I do play, it’s work. I don’t go to parties to have fun or listen to good music (actually I don’t go to parties hardly at all, but humor me), but rather to network and explore new places. Play for me usually involves learning new things, whether it’s reading a magazine or visiting a museum. Even the two things I do totally for fun – watch sports and run – have some work involved: crunching stats, making predictions and sweating over them, or keeping a log of miles run.
Here’s the thing: psychologists now say play is extremely important to a child’s ability to learn. Monkeys that were kept from playing as babies grow up unable to be good parents to their babies. Children learn significant physical, intellectual, and social things when they frolic around with their playmates. As I prepare to become a parent, I wonder if I’ll be able to just play. Maybe if I tell myself what good outcomes result from playing . . .
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