Podcasts about wonderland how play made

Aleks Krotoski explores the power of toys and play in shaping our technological future. Apple's Tim Cook has said he began working on the smartwatch aged 5 after seeing the cartoon character Dick Tracy's wristwatch two way radio. So how much of our technological present has been prescribed by future visions of the past? Clearly many innovators imagination's get fired up by childhood experiences but do they end up pursuing technologies that don't actually solve the problems we're facing? Or worse still, do they lock coming generations into futures where many key decisions have already been made and they'll end up having to deal with them? Look at climate change. Aleks explores these ideas with Steven Johnson author of Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World, Jonathon Keats experimental philosopher and founder and curator of The Museum of Future History and Valentina Boretti; a researcher who has been looking at how toys were used to shape the children that would create China's industrial miracle. Producer: Peter McManus

This lushly illustrated history of popular entertainment takes a long-zoom approach, contending that the pursuit of novelty and wonder is a powerful driver of world-shaping technological change. Steven Johnson argues that, throughout history, the cutting edge of innovation lies wherever people are working the hardest to keep themselves and others amused.

This week James did his homework and takes Ian on a psychonautical journey into the fifth chapter of "Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World," by Stephen Johnson. The idea that human fascination in projecting illusions into our universe has continued to be a pattern in the modern world makes sense. Think about it. We've gone from cave drawings to the Oculus Rift. Where our imaginations used to be the only vehicle, we can now almost touch for real - almost. Join us as we discuss the internet, Nvidia's insane new AI city rendering technology, and how they're already applying that to deepfake videos. Knowing the difference between the real and the unreal has clearly never been more important. Has our fascination with fun and whimsy led us to a point of living in a surreal fantasy IRL? We also talk about repairing your own computers, Fallout: New Vegas, Bad Company, Hearts of Iron, not the Witcher, and start to get hyped about Obsidian's (of Fallout New Vegas fame) new project: The Outer Worlds. Did you know Nigerian conspiracy theorists think their president is a clone? True. Thanks for listening. Tell a friend why don't you! Later Player.

This week James and Ian continue the discussion on Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World, and wonder themselves if this conclusion seems a little broad for their liking. They also talk about what kinds of games might be the coziest, curl up next to a fire, get a cat on your lap, and frag some noobs kinda games. We talk about the Danish custom of Hygge, aka that sweet cozy hibernation station exercise, and figure out how we can square-peg-round-whole this paradigm shift into our own lifestyles. What's Hygge and what's not is what we're up to here. Extra sleepytime tea is definitely Hygge. Thanks for listening. You can follow us at @podcast_to on twitter. Later Player.

We have chosen our new read for the series. It's a nifty non-fiction called Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World by Stephen Johnson. We found it on the MIT Press Game Design tab, and Johnson had previously been on the New York Times Bestseller's List for his book How We Got to Now. The book's thesis is wonderfully straightforward, as it argues that delight - not necessity, not hunger, not capitalism, etc - led to the most forward thinking and powerful innovations of our modern world. James and Ian take some time to unpack the introduction of this book, and look at how some early drawings by scholars and engineers in Baghdad had some of their mechanisms realized throughout the renaissance in Europe. We dig deeper into this, and look at the uncanny series of direct causes and consequences that led from early automatons to modern computers. Finally, we're getting closer to understanding the importance of play in our modern and complicated world. In play, there is no fixed goal or structure, and with that absence of structure comes the absence of a fixed mindset. Those who 'play' rather than 'do' are free to make mistakes, to build for the sake of building, and to explore possibilities they would not have known existed. Play is vital, and we are excited to start a new series to understand how play made the modern world. As always, thanks for listening. Later, Player.

Watch the video here. Exploring the intersection of science, technology, and experience, Steven Johnson is the author of the bestselling Where Good Ideas Come From, Everything Bad Is Good for You, and How We Got to Now, which he adapted into a popular PBS and BBC series. Johnson is also the creator of the influential online magazine FEED and the website plastic.com, and was one of Prospect magazine's Top Ten Brains of the Digital Future. A look at the ways novelty, wonder, and amusement have driven innovation, Wonderland is ''a swashbuckling argument for the centrality of recreation to all of human history'' (New York Times).  Due to low sound levels, you will have to turn the sound up on your computer (after the introduction) in order to hear the podcast. We apologize for the inconvenience. (recorded 1/24/2017)

On this week's Tech Nation, Moira speaks with Steven Johnson, the Author, “Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World.” Then on Tech Nation Health, chief correspondent Dr. Daniel Kraft talks about the future of cancer – its prevention, early detection and emergent treatments. And Dr. Niclas Stiernholm, the President & CEO of Trillium Therapeutics, tells us about identifying cancer cells so that the immune system can remove them.

On this week’s Tech Nation, Moira speaks with Steven Johnson, the Author, “Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World.” Then on Tech Nation Health, chief correspondent Dr. Daniel Kraft talks about the future of cancer – its prevention, early detection and emergent treatments. And Dr. Niclas Stiernholm, the President & CEO of Trillium Therapeutics, tells us about identifying cancer cells so that the immune system can remove them.

I wish I was as smart as Steven Johnson. I asked him, "What is your one favorite thing that everybody thinks is bad for you that is actually good for you?" He didn't want to tell me. "My kids might listen to this later," he said. But he told me... He's the author of "Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation," "Everything Bad is Good for you," and the recent "Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World"- how the idea of "play" more than anything else, is what created the modern world. "I regret saying this a little, but, the assumption that video games are just a terrible waste of time and that this generation is growing up playing these stupid games is really... it's so wrong," he said. He was talking about using play for education reform. "If you think about it, we walk around with a bunch of assumptions of what a learning experience is supposed to look like: listening to a lecture, watching an educational video, taking an exam to test your learning." I was gonna puke.  "I've been watching my kids play Battlefield 1, which is set in WWI. And it's amazing." "I sit and watch my kids play and ask what they're thinking about. Because as a grown up who doesn't play the game you can't process it. There's just so much going on in the world. They're playing this multiplayer game, in this incredibly vivid landscape with a million data points streaming across the screen." His doesn't understand it. And his kids don't understand how he doesn't understand it...  "Didn't you see the signal I got? And how this one piece of the interface was telling me to do xy and z?" "All I can see is there's a gun and a Zeplin. I'm 48," he said. We're the same age. "Does that make me middle aged?" "We're old." Kids are basically gonna destroy us. We're the one's who are going to end up in diapers. They started off there, we end up there. Unless... We play, too. So here's what Steven found out. One would ask, that sounds ridiculous: how did "play" create the Industrial Revolution. Or all the wars of the past 500 years. Or all the innovations we've seen with the Internet, which was initially funded by the military. What does "play" have to do with it? Everything. And that's what makes Steven Johnson so infuriating. He'll take two concepts that seem like they have nothing to do with each other and he'll say, THIS caused THAT! And I'd shake my head and cry and ask, "How is that even possible?" And then he'll show me. Because he traces his curiosity. It's like when you start clicking all the hyperlinks in a Wikipedia page. And seeing how everything is connected. Steven connects the dots and puts them in a book for you. If I were to recreate a robotic Steven Johnson (hmmm, actually, maybe he is a robot. Or at least has a Cylon brain or maybe Bradley Cooper's brain from Limitless) I'd have to feed in 10,000 books or so, and this ability to find every possible cross connection between every two ideas mentioned in the books. And then he spits it out in his masterpieces. As I told him in the beginning of the podcast: I enjoy a lot of books. A lot of books are great even. But your books and only a few others are among the only books where I read it and I feel like my IQ is going up. I made up a game in fact, based on his books. Maybe someone should make the card game for this. Here's two random concepts. Tell me how they are connected. Example: The lengthening of shop windows in London in the 1600s and the rise of American slavery in the 1800s. I'm not making this up. One really caused the other. Steven calls it "the hummingbird effect." It's different from the butterfly effect where the flapping of a butterfly's wings can cause a hurricane. That's chance. The hummingbird effect is traceable. "It has to be 2-3 steps removed," he said. "And you have to be really rigorous about when it just doesn't work." You play to find the links. I told him this...

In his new book “Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World,” Steven Johnson argues that the pursuit of novelty and wonder is a powerful driver of world-shaping technological change, and that throughout history, the cutting edge of innovation lies wherever people are working the hardest to keep themselves and others amused.

I wish I was as smart as Steven Johnson. I asked him, “What is your one favorite thing that everybody thinks is bad for you that is actually good for you?” He didn’t want to tell me. “My kids might listen to this later,” he said. But he told me... He's the author of "Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation," "Everything Bad is Good for you," and the recent "Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World"— how the idea of "play" more than anything else, is what created the modern world. “I regret saying this a little, but, the assumption that video games are just a terrible waste of time and that this generation is growing up playing these stupid games is really… it’s so wrong," he said. He was talking about using play for education reform. "If you think about it, we walk around with a bunch of assumptions of what a learning experience is supposed to look like: listening to a lecture, watching an educational video, taking an exam to test your learning." I was gonna puke.  “I’ve been watching my kids play Battlefield 1, which is set in WWI. And it’s amazing.” “I sit and watch my kids play and ask what they’re thinking about. Because as a grown up who doesn’t play the game you can’t process it. There’s just so much going on in the world. They’re playing this multiplayer game, in this incredibly vivid landscape with a million data points streaming across the screen.” His doesn't understand it. And his kids don’t understand how he doesn’t understand it...  “Didn’t you see the signal I got? And how this one piece of the interface was telling me to do xy and z?” “All I can see is there’s a gun and a Zeplin. I’m 48,” he said. We’re the same age. “Does that make me middle aged?” “We’re old." Kids are basically gonna destroy us. We’re the one’s who are going to end up in diapers. They started off there, we end up there. Unless… We play, too. So here’s what Steven found out. One would ask, that sounds ridiculous: how did "play" create the Industrial Revolution. Or all the wars of the past 500 years. Or all the innovations we've seen with the Internet, which was initially funded by the military. What does "play" have to do with it? Everything. And that's what makes Steven Johnson so infuriating. He'll take two concepts that seem like they have nothing to do with each other and he'll say, THIS caused THAT! And I'd shake my head and cry and ask, "How is that even possible?" And then he'll show me. Because he traces his curiosity. It’s like when you start clicking all the hyperlinks in a Wikipedia page. And seeing how everything is connected. Steven connects the dots and puts them in a book for you. If I were to recreate a robotic Steven Johnson (hmmm, actually, maybe he is a robot. Or at least has a Cylon brain or maybe Bradley Cooper's brain from Limitless) I'd have to feed in 10,000 books or so, and this ability to find every possible cross connection between every two ideas mentioned in the books. And then he spits it out in his masterpieces. As I told him in the beginning of the podcast: I enjoy a lot of books. A lot of books are great even. But your books and only a few others are among the only books where I read it and I feel like my IQ is going up. I made up a game in fact, based on his books. Maybe someone should make the card game for this. Here's two random concepts. Tell me how they are connected. Example: The lengthening of shop windows in London in the 1600s and the rise of American slavery in the 1800s. I’m not making this up. One really caused the other. Steven calls it “the hummingbird effect.” It’s different from the butterfly effect where the flapping of a butterfly’s wings can cause a hurricane. That’s chance. The hummingbird effect is traceable. “It has to be 2-3 steps removed,” he said. “And you have to be really rigorous about when it just doesn’t work.” You play to find the links. I told him this idea. He laughed and said, "I should do that." Example: The laugh of Sputnik, led direction to Tinder. In the podcast, we spoke about how humans have this evolutionary need not only for food and reproduction (Darwin's well-trodden theories), but also novelty. Example: Gutenberg in the 1400s led to the study of genomics. And that novelty and play gave us energy and initiative to produce discoveries ranging from the cotton gin, the steam engine, world exploration, and the Internet. Example: a tree used by the Mayans to make games led directly to car tires. What I really wanted to explore in the podcast was not only these insane connections. It was almost ludicrous how many fun ones I was coming up with, but what was it about Steven that allowed him to come up with all these connections. What does he do differently with his brain? Can I do it also? I wanted to learn. Example: The invention of the phonograph in the mid 1800s directly led to their being more boys than girls born in China this year. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“You will find the future wherever people are having the most fun,” Johnson argues. He chronicles how, throughout history, world-transforming innovation emerges from the endless quest for novelty in seemingly trivial entertainments--fashion, music, spices, magic, taverns, zoos, games. He celebrates the observation of historian Johan Huizinga (Homo Ludens), “Civilization arises and unfolds in and as play.” Steven Johnson is the leading historian of creativity. His books include Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World; How We Got To Now; Where Good Ideas Come From; and Everything Bad Is Good For You.

There is virtue in delight! We chanced upon new building materials, better computer software, and a global economy by frittering away our time. On The Gist, author Steven Johnson says our flights of fancy may have driven most of human progress. Johnson’s new book is Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World. For the Spiel, the passings of 2016.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There is virtue in delight! We chanced upon new building materials, better computer software, and a global economy by frittering away our time. On The Gist, author Steven Johnson says our flights of fancy may have driven most of human progress. Johnson’s new book is Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World. For the Spiel, the passings of 2016.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Children's playthings are not sports and should be deemed their most serious actions," Montaigne wrote. Freud regarded play as the means by which the child accomplishes his first great cultural and psychological achievements; through play he expresses himself. This is true, Freud thought, even for an infant whose play consists of nothing more than smiling at his mother, as she smiles at him. He noted how much and how well children express their thoughts and feelings through play. Why then should we assume that we outgrow the value of play? The wonder of seeing the world through joy, rather than fear. Think about all that you’ve read about the creativity of silicon valley...the atmosphere of fun that entrepreneurs try to create. Today even education is being built around the idea of projects, of teams, of fun and of wonder. This is the world that best selling author Steven Johnson explores in Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World. My conversation with Steven Johnson:

Steven Johnson talks about how our "delights/play/trifles" change serious history.

7 AM - 1 - China can't call Kim Jung fat anymore. 2 - Author Steven Johnson talks about his book: "Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World". 3 - The News with Marshall Phillips. 4 - Fun texts on stuff.