The Evolutionary Purpose of Fun

[@besmart]

What's the strangest thing YOU do for fun? Thanks for watching!

[@PS-fn6uv]

making funny faces in the mirror

[@h7opolo]

The strangest thing I do for fun is compile KZbin playlists of various themes into chronological order of original dates of release.

[@GrannyRoberta]

Well, I keep bees as an expensive hobby. Is that strange enough?

[@TheDwightMamba]

@@h7opolo , I had to do that with Kill Tony. Thay have about 600 episodes and I like to listen to the old ones at work. KZbin refuses to hand them to me in order. Some algorithm, huh?

[@rosesmith6925]

To me reading is fun (and relaxing). I can go to exciting scary places that don't exist in my world. And get away from "my/our" world with going Nutters 😎

[@rosesmith6925]

I'm always amazed at what sets different people's dopamine into action. What is "play" for one is boring or nothing to another 🤔

[@olafelsberry420]

Baseball always brings an overload of dopamine for me, I know it's also bore for a lot of people.

[@rosesmith6925]

@@olafelsberry420, sport in general is something I can't seem to get excited about unless someone I know personally is playing, weird huh? Although I must say I absolutely love hearing it on TV but being in a different place. Reminds me of visiting my grandpa, baseball and cigar smoke ❤️(oh and the ice cream he always took us for when the game was over 😂).

[@rachel_Cochran]

Or horrifying for one while fun for another

[@vladdevener5586]

@Don't Read My Profile Picture OK I won't

[@gjk-arts5855]

@@rachel_Cochran ah. Roller coasters. (I'm on the TERRIFIED part of that spectrum)

[@727Phoenix]

Raising little kittens to adult cats was a beautiful experience for me. Watching them play gave me so much joy, even though I was always aware they're pretending to kill each other.

[@jesusramirezromo2037]

I mean, Human kids also pretend to shoot, stab or bash each other to death when playing

[@727Phoenix]

I know right? Years ago at a laundromat I started getting annoyed at two little tykes running around playing tag, pretending to shoot each other, etc(their mom tried to stop them but she was so busy...) Then I realized, _My kittens do the same thing!_ I no longer get annoyed at little kids because of that perspective.

[@wetworms.]

@@jesusramirezromo2037 me and my bro often used to make weapons from sticks and pretend to kill each other. It was a wild time lmao

[@intheshell35ify]

That is horrible. You people are part of the problem.

[@OrdinarySpeaker]

"Having fun means learning to be human" as a statement on its own also hits really hard. Thanks for the great video!

[@oracleofdelphi4533]

Watching Be Smart videos is a great way to learn to be human. Posting clever double entendre comments is fun too.

[@vladdevener5586]

@Don't Read My Profile Picture OK I won't

[@TheSphongleface]

Fun is associating the use of a skill with the practice of movements, despite it seeming completely wasted. It's like lifting weights. It doesn't make anything useful there and then, you're just putting it back exactly where you found it, but you get a small amount better at it every time. Having fun together is mostly testing each other's limits to strengthen the social bonds that keep us safe from other creatures, and other people too.

[@Pfhorrest]

This reminds me of some recent philosophical work of mine: pleasure is the feeling of succeeding. So, getting good at things, not because you have to, but just for its own sake, whether or not that's something you're going to need to be good at later, is pleasant, enjoyable, fun. And that's what play is: just trying to succeed at some arbitrary non-obligatory action. Because being good feels good.

[@IGNOBLEVOIDPEEKER]

Thats not Philosophy. At least not capitol ‘P’ Philosophy. This is your personal philosophy (lower case p). And that’s fine, however it’s not something novel or rigorous.

[@Pfhorrest]

@@IGNOBLEVOIDPEEKER I have a degree in the subject and administer the largest chat community about it on the internet. Don't tell me what is or isn't philosophy.

[@IGNOBLEVOIDPEEKER]

Good, then you should know that your “work” in philosophy is a mere personal philosophy.

[@fleebertreatise1063]

@@IGNOBLEVOIDPEEKER They said it reminds them of their work, not that their description was the totality or finished product of that work.

[@IGNOBLEVOIDPEEKER]

​@@fleebertreatise1063 You are mistaken. There is no assumption here. Recall, and I directly quote, "This reminds me of some recent philosophical work of mine" Notice how the author is not referring to 'work' in math, 'work' in physics, or 'work' in any other discipline such that it is not philosophy. The author directly says, "philosophical work of mine"; therefore, if I take the utterance as such (and I am expected to), then his 'work' is to be taken as philosophy, however, doing so, is erronous. Whether this work is finished or in progress is irrelevant; notice that if this 'description is accurate, then I take the following to be the case. First, notice that what matters here is that if the author calls this 'work' philosophy, it is a detriment to the discipline. The lack of rigor, precision, and the use of first-person experiences (from the original comment, "pleasure is the feeling of succeeding") sound more like the (fraudulent) continental philosophy. If that is what one wants to call 'philosophical,' go ahead. However, then you run into issues of calling anything philosophy, such that any lowercase 'p' philosophy (take your standard pet theory, conspiracy theory, or some individual personal philosophy) is as serious as capital 'P' philosophy, which, I think, is erroneous, and fraudulent.

[@disky01]

I'm so grateful to live in an age when we have such broad and varied access to entertaining educational programming. Thanks to you Joe, and to Hank, Ze, Dianna, Sabine, Danielle and everyone else with a passion for science communication. You make the world a better place.

[@aedof]

That study on bee play behavior was fascinating! I used it as the basis for my final project in an animal behavior course last semester.

[@critiqueofthegothgf]

play has fundamental value; not instrumental value. it's not done as a means to something else, but a basic condition for life itself. life doesn't play because it believes playing is going to eventually lead to something else, we do it because of the value of the activity itself. it's beautiful.

[@wisesquirrel4986]

I love it when one of the claims of these videos is one of the conclusions I personally arrived on prior to watching said video. Feels so validating.

[@JarrodCoombes]

Thank you for making sure to mention Lovelace as equal designer for the difference machine.

[@KraftyKittenz]

I do like the new set. The subtle logo in the wood is lovely.

[@absolutegaming8658]

I like his videos because the question he asks are so fundamental yet so complex to answer its so fascinating and amazing

[@CartoonKidOLLY]

Took the words out of my mouth

[@ericswain4177]

Fun and Amusement are a kind of safety valve, the more complicated and stressful one's life is the more desire or need for Fun and or Play, Amusement.

[@Beryllahawk]

I think for some of us, the learning itself gives some dopamine too, and thus learning is "fun" - but that doesn't apply to every brain, at least that seems to be the case. I'm content to be one of the "weird" folks that actually enjoys learning even now in my fourth decade of living. Nerds Are Good!

[@paulweber1740]

I love the set! Absolutely love the logo cut into those screens or wall or cabinet, whatever it is. Been a Galaxy Brain supporter for over three years now. Stoked to see our support manifest in all the ways it does. Love you Joe!!

[@thiagocamargoalima]

"Curse you, Newton!" LoL 🤣🤣🤣

[@marcovallejo3]

You got my like at the bee saying "Calle me Mbeepé".

[@marcovallejo3]

😂*

[@bobtuckey2409]

I had fun watching you talk about fun. I think it’s amazing that bumblebees have fun. Very cool.🐝

[@gryphonschnitzel7140]

I got so much into over analyzing my feelings and consciousness (additionally with the help of psychedelics) so that i could feel and to a large degree control what hormones and neurotransmitters activate in my body and boy i felt kinda broken. What im tryna say is your emotions all have reasons and purposes and blocking them or avoiding them always causes suffering. Face all of your being and integrate the bad emotions too, as to make you the complete version of yourself. The way to success is pointed at by fear and constructive anger.

[@naturalistmind]

I've been taking Japanese in college and I'll tell you deciphering then understanding new writing systems is definitely my brains favorite thing, looking forward to reading The call of the wild in Japanese

[@soonny002]

For the longest time, my parents tried to convince me, that studying hard, going to a good school, finding a good job, building a family, buying a big house, and looking after your parents, was indeed FUN. And so I asked them, "then why aren't you doing it?" And they never got back to me.

[@syedushherahmad311]

Scientist: oh look the bee is playing! Bee: where is the nectar on this flower?

[@CHIRASRIPODDAR]

This channel gives me a dopamine hit 😊 almost everytime i watch their video.keep it up 👍

[@dany_fg]

This video was so much fun to watch

[@LabyrinthMike]

Yep, made it to end screen. There are a few creators who's end credits are so long, including one who reads the names of her Patreon subscribers, that I've stopped trying to make it to the end. But for most videos I watch to the end. My wife has always insisted on watching the end credits of movies to honor all the people who contributed to the film, and I guess I do that for videos too. And besides, there might be an end credit scene. (Congratulations on the new set.)

[@matthewsfamily900]

I'm subscribed to 6 or so science channels. Yours is the funnest....... On a more serious note (serious as in using a real word), it really is fun. I get most excited when a new video of yours pops up.

[@disneybunny45]

F is for friends who do stuff together

[@EduardoMartinez-lf5id]

U is for u and me!

[@k_loves_dogs7260]

It’s fun to watch your videos and learn!!

[@jessovenden]

It’s possible to learn to find more of life fun. Cheerfulness is very important!

[@ontbijtkoek5331]

I needed this. Exactly at the right time

[@zaubergarden6900]

This should be watched back-to-back with a video by Big Think that just got suggested to me: how money can "buy" happiness. Same strategy to invest in experiences that pay off later, again and again by remembering, reliving them and telling the stories. In this case it's playing to build up skills that pay off later.

[@Part_Time_Fox]

F is for friends who do stuff together! U is for you and me! N is for anywhere and anytime at all Down here in the deep blue sea!

[@ShadowDrakken]

Fun aside: The old software store chain Babbage's was named for, but not associated with Charles Babbage. Today you're probably more familiar with it under its new name, "GameStop" or possibly "EB Games" :)

[@nomann5244]

I has the same question for a long time. "What is fun... What is the necessity of fun in evolution..." Thanks for the video.

[@janekschmidt9015]

this Channel is so great! thanks smart people

[@SolaceEasy]

Point missed: Directly state that making learning fun is an extremely effective way of learning.

[@evelynkoch8500]

8:13, Joe, did you just take all of the fun out of my life by making me conscious of why we do it?!

[@bhargavbhatt5839]

I miss the old set... It was iconic

[@MotoRide.]

4:01 "call me M'Beepe" hahahaaa xD

[@Blenny1]

This video deserves 1B Milestone

[@1RAH]

My name is Rowyn and that was really trippy hearing that thank you. Happy to hear other giving it a good name. Good job Rowan, Rowen or Rowyn

[@drebarthelotte5712]

Its got to be said. Thank you. 😊

[@poh7240]

the way this channel questions things is actually amazing!

[@christianperkins9508]

I love learning about my brain! And how my ADHD, Autism, Alexithymia, and so on mess with my dopamine pathways...

[@bilalrasool1]

this would explain why some people genuinely enjoy learning something new.

[@abhinav121rocks]

Just call me mbeepe killed me 04:00 Now all I can think of is bessi 😂😂😂😂

[@pilosheht8239]

Thank you, Joe!

[@simarkarmani4034]

How does this video have 44K views in a day? That's AMAZING!

[@ArmyGrunt1986]

Guess thats why the funnest games when a young kid and older mimics hunting and escaping danger, like tag, man-hunt and hide and seek. And why dogs love playing fetch.

[@coco-chan-]

finally a new video 🎉😊 love this channel, couldn’t live without it

[@Chris0nF1re]

Currently in bed sick and binging KZbin. 🤣

[@Iamdasutpal]

What a fun video 👌🏽. Can you make a follow up video answering “what is evolutionary purpose of sadness or loss” ?

[@SkiesTurnedGrey]

It's for friends, who do stuff together. For you and me. Anywhere, at any time at all.

[@Mathyken]

However, I do wonder if the bees actually get dopamine from 'playing' a ball. Could it be that the colors of the balls attract the bees, in which they automatically think that they also contain nectar. I hope they don't wear themselves out over it. I once heard that a cat following a laser on the wall can make him/her very frustrated and therefor; this can regretfully be misinterpreted as fun. The strangest thing I do for fun is think about these things. Love it! Thanks for the food. Liked & subscribed.

[@sarahm2005]

Oh hey! You changed the thumbnail! Great choice! Who clickes on two guerillas?

[@barba5209]

we really have just become tecnological apes in pants

[@thoraero]

Excellent explanation

[@schlieffenman957]

Ah yes, my science nerd comes out with another banger!

[@YoungGandalf2325]

The bees rolling the balls aren't playing, they're training for a new profession: Dung Bee-tle

[@funkykong9001]

Ok dad

[@davidcollier2500]

It's not just that learning is fun. Fun is learning.

[@lindareed8265]

OMG, Rowan, you're the best!!!!!!!!!!

[@abineshanbazhagan6703]

Evolution is always fun! Let's keep evolving for more of the same ❤ happy living folks!

[@רמותאורהשן]

i love this videos so much!

[@indigo-lily]

In the words of the great Hirasawa Yui: "Fun things are fun"

[@DTredecim]

Yo Rowan you are the best. Keep being awesome.

[@willmpet]

“Work is more fun than fun”

[@Palbizu]

The Portal video game series I call my training wheels for programming.

[@grantbartley483]

Aristotle: human is 'the rational animal' Joe: human is 'the ape with pants'

[@Barbaste]

So many years denying Skinner and Wilson - they have always been the real psychologists!

[@cryotimber]

Lmfao. "You want a HUGE dopamine hit? Pay us money"

[@masternicholas0559]

Love the new set!

[@bbbenj]

Thank you.

[@Luanmm]

In 5:47, it seemed implied that nomadic hunter gatherer people are "less evolved". Probably was a bad choice of words, you wish to talk about our ancestor species, but we have still hunter gatherer human populations around the world... A derivative question, to test further this (probably poorly chosen) phrase, is to look at how different human populations play, how many time the spend playing, what are they playing with. Do nomadic human hunter gatherers play less? Play more? Play differently? For example, I've heard that nomadic hunter gatherers have more free time than early farmers had, so who is actually able to play more?

[@Kanakadea]

Beautiful cards. I think i’ll get that when my kids are a little older.

[@james_4526]

F is for friends that do things together

[@jakubcejka2597]

Great video as always. Was Joe always looking this good? Look at his biceps

[@qarljohnson4971]

Be Smart needs to go deep into the evolutionary phenomenon of neoteny- the retention of juvenile characteristics into adulthood. Humans are especially defined by our neotenic behavior of playing into our collective dottages. Though it might be said that the playfulness of domesticated animals does imply that humans playfulness is also a sign of being domesticated.

[@MrShaclakclak]

"F" is for Friends who do things together!

[@Fireninja2343]

Learning is supposed to be fun

[@dubstrippin]

Weird, I was thinking of this very question today!!!

[@JOCKMAAAAA]

That you brilliant for melting my retinas at 2 in the morning 🤣

[@Katiethewizard]

all i know is that its really cute when i wrastle my pet rats with my hands and they pop up and run around happily

[@devooko]

At 6:20, the like button will go through an rgb border animation

[@Squintis]

The bee probably just wants to learn some sick rolling skills..

[@Elizabeth_Paz]

Rowan is an amazing kid!!!

[@KrossX]

I made it the end screen! Yay!

[@Fantasygod930]

I always like to have fun and be energized I was way more energetic when I was young and let my imagination run wild and I had way more fun back then did I do now I still have fun but now I have way more limits a fun that I used to be which is disappointing everyday I just want to have some entertainment and fun but because of life's unfair rules I can't always have that still I tried to find fun and have fun where I can

[@hennnerz]

Please, after being a suffering epileptic, could you do a video on epilepsy?

[@otiebrown9999]

Hi Joe, I do science myopia prevention research - for fun. Thinking analysis with out "medical pressure", to instantly solve a problem.

[@Tattta999]

why is beeball so cute

[@sylviahoffman9440]

Nice job on your new background. I love the geometric shapes. 🔶️⚪️🟪

[@michaelmedlinger6399]

FUN = watching videos made by Dr. Joe on Be Smart!

[@omikrondraconis5708]

We have so much in common with all the other animals! I am really sad it took me decades to put that knowledge into action and go vegan. Sticking to it, though, only became easier over the years! Seeing bumblebees do pretty much the same thing as my children is so beautiful and no longer marred by my cognitive dissonance.

[@jpe1]

I had never thought about my choice to eat a plant-based diet as having anything to do with cognitive dissonance, but after reading your comment I think that describes my situation perfectly. Thanks for the insight!

[@kyokoyumi]

I don't eat anything but animals (carnivore) and I don't have any form of cognitive dissonance. I can enjoy watching bees play with balls just as much as you do and still eat honey in turn. In fact, being carnivore has made me even more conscious of my choices as far as animal welfare and treatment goes. Domestic herbivores *cannot* survive without human intervention. Period. We've made them that way. So if we stop eating them, then what? They'll just die out. Might as well keep going lol We just have to do it sustanably. Grass-fed, grass-finished, pasture-raised, cage free animals taste delicious and are great for your health. The farmers love their animals probably more than vegans do, as well. So you don't have to be vegan to make good choices and cut away the cognitive dissonance that factory farming has placed in our heads. Just like you don't have to be vegan to appreciate the life of all living creatures. We have a lot in common with many animals but it's also been very well proven that our closest relatives eat just as much meat in the form of monkeys and insects (probably more tbh) as they do plants. We're meant to eat meat. It's more nutritionally dense and filling to the point you could eat a steak and two eggs and not have to eat for the next 24hrs. Red meat alone contains *every* nutrient in all the right proportions that your body needs. There's not one single plant that does that without having too much of one thing or not enough of another.

[@omikrondraconis5708]

@@kyokoyumi no, not every nutrient is in meat, red or otherwise. Please watch out for loose joints and swelling gums and start to incorporate mushrooms, nuts and bell peppers as soon as you feel any discomfort. Before you advocate for the "sustainability" of your choices, please multiply the resources necessary by 8 billion. Or have a peak in the various UN documents dealing with that exact matter. By the way, I like the tone of your post. You are not belligerent or aggressive, which is a very juice change of pace! We might not agree in our interpretation of the science, but like that, there is room for dialogue! Thank you for that!

[@Jakeassimilate]

Completely agree! Choosing to go vegan and avoid paying for animal cruelty wherever possible was the best decision I ever made. ✌️ It’s just a shame that veganism suffers from such bad publicity! Which I think stems from the cognitive dissonance you mentioned, and that most people never stop to question the ethical consequences of their diets. Sure, not everyone in the world can give up eating animals, as some people live in areas of the world without access to plant-based foods. But the more people that do go vegan, the less unnecessary animal cruelty there will be in the world 💚

[@Jakeassimilate]

@@kyokoyumi Not breeding the animals and letting them go extinct is a far more ethical thing to do than continue to factory farm them and kill them at a young age. If we stop farming animals for food, the number of those animals being bred into existence would obviously plummet but they wouldn’t necessarily go completely extinct, because people can keep domestic animals as pets or live in sanctuaries etc… But let’s say for the sake of argument that they would go completely extinct. That is still a more ethical result than continuing to factory farm them and slaughter them at a young age. Ask yourself this: would you rather we stop breeding dogs for good tomorrow? Or we continue breeding dogs but all of them have to go through what pigs go through on a factory farm and slaughterhouse? Sometimes not being born is the better choice. ✌️

[@supercommie]

I have an obsession with the Babbage computer.

[@Anna-rb6rg]

2:38 maybe little bit inaccurate - dopamine does not make us "feel good", it makes us want something, so far i know. And as a former addicted i can confirm, that you can have enourmous amount of dopamine and no pleasure at the same time

[@Anna-rb6rg]

and i guess, that during the game all animals have dopamine hits, because the game requires fantasy - the cat pretends that despite the probability of losing, he caught the mouse (that is, he thought worse about the "real" outcome and surprised by it - what in itself causes dopaminerelease) and can eat this mouse now (and theoretically get pleasure due to the release of other neurotransmitters), although this is just a string I ask myself now - is the game fun or do we just want to play?

[@jjohnston94]

"But mama, that's where the fun iiiiiiiiis..."

[@kshina3624]

also playing with other people helps us develop social skills too, which could be why so many games require more than one person. sports for example always requires at least two ppl. i dont know any sport that is played alone. even if it is solo you have an opponent

[@Johny40Se7en]

Lovely video. Had fun watching it 👍🙂😛

[@nv3981]

Maybe a mix of the old title with the new one, Do all animals have fun? Just a suggestion.