This sort of information gathering is precisely what we call play. And the important function of play is thus revealed: it permits us to gain, without any particular future application in mind, a holistic understanding of the world, which is both a complement of and a preparation for later analytical activities. Carl Sagan
About This Quote

Play is necessary to our lives. Without it, we would not be able to learn about the world around us. It is just like the game of chess in which you have to move your pieces in order to win. Play teaches us how to learn.

The game of chess also shows that when you win, there are still more moves to be made so that you can be prepared for the next day’s game. Without play, we would not be able to gain the skills needed to prepare for our future work or even for an important event in our personal lives.

Source: Dragons Of Eden: Speculations On The Evolution Of Human Intelligence

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More Quotes By Carl Sagan
  1. Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another.

  2. The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself.

  3. The Cosmos is all that is or was or ever will be. Our feeblest contemplations of the Cosmos stir us -- there is a tingling in the spine, a catch in the voice, a faint sensation, as if a distant memory, of falling from a...

  4. A celibate clergy is an especially good idea, because it tends to suppress any hereditary propensity toward fanaticism.

  5. We are star stuff harvesting sunlight.

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