The Grasshopper - Third Edition: Games, Life and Utopia Cover
Podcast Mentions

The Grasshopper - Third Edition Games, Life and Utopia

Bernard Suits

In the mid twentieth century the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein famously asserted that games are indefinable; there are no common threads that link them all. “Nonsense,” said the sensible Bernard Suits: “playing a game is a voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles.” The short book Suits...

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The Ezra Klein Show

Podcast

The Ezra Klein Show

Klein said he discovered Bernard Suits' The Grasshopper, a 1970s work that defines playing a game as voluntarily taking on unnecessary obstacles to achieve a goal.

"

I found this incredible book, Bernard Suits' The Grasshopper.

— Episode: A Philosophy of Games That Is Really a P...

Episode: A Philosophy of Games That Is Really a Philosophy...

Klein said he discovered Bernard Suits' The Grasshopper, a 1970s work that defines playing a game as voluntarily taking on unnecessary obstacles to achieve a goal.

"

I found this incredible book, Bernard Suits' The Grasshopper.

Freakonomics Radio

Podcast

Freakonomics Radio

The host noted that Bernard Suits had published a sly and influential little book called The Grasshopper, which defined game playing as the voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles.

"

In 1978, the Canadian philosopher Bernard Suits published a sly and influential little book called The Grasshopper, Games, Life, and Utopia, in which he defined game playing as the voluntary attempt t...

— Episode: 675. Has the New York Times Become a Gam...

Episode: 675. Has the New York Times Become a Games Company...

The host noted that Bernard Suits had published a sly and influential little book called The Grasshopper, which defined game playing as the voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles.

"

In 1978, the Canadian philosopher Bernard Suits published a sly and influential little book called The Grasshopper, Games, Life, and Utopia, in which he defined game playing as the voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles.

No Stupid Questions

Podcast

No Stupid Questions

It was mentioned that Johan Huizinga, in his book 'Homo Ludens', provided a definition of play as the voluntary overcoming of unnecessary obstacles.

"

I mean my favorite definition of play I can't remember who it was I think it was a philosopher said that the definition of play is the voluntary overcoming of unnecessary obstacles.

— Episode: 136. Is Sloth a Sin or a Virtue?

Episode: 136. Is Sloth a Sin or a Virtue?

It was mentioned that Johan Huizinga, in his book 'Homo Ludens', provided a definition of play as the voluntary overcoming of unnecessary obstacles.

"

I mean my favorite definition of play I can't remember who it was I think it was a philosopher said that the definition of play is the voluntary overcoming of unnecessary obstacles.

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