What it means
Posted by Mike Sugarbaker on 15 Aug 2006 at 02:24 pm | Tagged as: Advocacy
Some people are already getting it twisted, so here it is:
Play is good. Play is necessary. Play keeps us young. Play keeps us alive. Play leads to new ideas and new ways of looking at the world. Play teaches us about each other and about ourselves. Play makes us human.
This symbol says, “Have play in your life.” It does not say “I am ______ and you are not.” For that matter, it does not say “I am ______ and so are you if you understand this.” No, not even when you fill in the blank with “gamer.”
This symbol is not even really an exhortation. It’s a yelp of joy. It says, go us. Go team. Go humanity. GO PLAY.
7 Responses to “What it means”
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Yay Mike! Looks great so far!
Well put!
By itself, the symbol doesn’t say anything. Those who create and use it, may attach a meaning to it; those that see it, may attach other meanings to it.
Displaying any symbol, you say several things:
- I find this symbol meaningful.
- I wish to show everyone how meaningful it is to me.
People seeing an unknown symbol in many places will usually think - consciously or not:
- A group of people are purposefully spreading this symbol. They find it meaningful.
Now, here’s where different things can happen. If the symbol is easy to interpret, spreading it is a means of communication. If it’s very ambiguous, spreading it is not communication. And this one is very ambiguous.
People seeing an unknown, ambiguous symbol all over the place will probably think one of the following:
- A group of people are trying to get me interested in something.
- However, they’re not telling me what they’re interested in.
- Is it a marketing ploy? An idealist movement? Why aren’t they just being straightforward about it?
I’m happy you stepped up and straightened things out. There have been some grumblings out there from folks that are seeing way too deeply into it. I like having a symbol for something I’ve for so long, that play is a great thing to have in one’s life, and maybe with a symbol we can spread the love around.
Sorry Mike, that’s guff. Linking back to the original proposal for the “GoPlay” symbol (at http://www.story-games.com/forums/comments.php?DiscussionID=1045#Item_5) it is clear that the intent of the symbol was for members of one group to identify other members of that group. By all means attach other positive connotations to it if you wish, but don’t for one moment try to suggest that your interpretation is either “exclusively right” or “the original”.
Bin, kindly point out where in Mike’s post he said anything approaching “exclusively right” or “original.” Sure, this started as an identification. That doesn’t mean it’s always and forever nothing but that.
Go play!
Guys, this is a great thing you are starting right now. I know this is small, and is only word-of-mouth right now, but I think it’s awesome :D It’s prodigious, inspiring and just… awesome!
Two thumbs way up from me, in any case.
BTW, your link to EN World puts it as a .com, and it’s actaully .org
I found this site through this thread here: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=173034
Keep up the good work and GO PLAY!