Rituals,
pastimes and
games are forms of
social activity. The author differentiates between
Rituals (a stereotyped / predictable set of responses), pastimes (a means of structuring / passing time and fixing roles) and games. Games are a series of complex moves leading to a well-defined and predictable outcome. Being complex, games lack the simplicity and directness of rituals and pastimes. We may
play games both consciously and unconsciously. Games may be played for fun or in all seriousness. (Giving an example, the author
says that War is a very serious game.) The analysis of games is part of social psychiatry.
The author says that child rearing may be regarded as an educational process whereby the child is taught what games to play and how to play them. As they grow older, the games become fixed patterns of stimulus and response, their origins lost and their true nature hidden by the passage of time. Though they maybe unaware of it, from infancy parents teach their children how to behave, think and feel. These influences are deeply ingrained, and it is not easy to free oneself from them.
There are a wide variety of games. Some of the more common games are life games (alcoholic / debtor), marital games (courtroom), party games, sexual games, underworld games (cops and robbers) and good games (homely sage). The author says that even psychiatry can be a consulting room game!
In our daily life most of our time is taken up in playing games. Besides helping in passing time, games also help in maintaining the psychic (mental) health of individuals as emotional deprivation can be very harmful. The author says that games are played most passionately by disturbed people; the more disturbed you are the harder you play. And
people who play destructive games come to the therapist far more frequently than people who play constructive games.
What is the significance of games? The author says that games are passed on from generation to generation, and that raising children is mostly about teaching them what games to play. It goes without saying that different social classes and cultures play different types of games. Pastimes grow boring with repetition, and so people prefer to play games. In fact, people choose as their friends those people who play the same type of games.
More summaries about the Games People Play