I can’t watch the videos at the moment, but will make a note to do so when time for them allows.  In the meantime, check out some of Will’s speech from his Engage! Expo presentation.

Wright takes what he called “an evolutionist view of human behavior.” When humans encounter a new situations, they collect data, classify it, employ empathy to try to predict outcomes, and figure out what kinds of action they can take, thus developing hypotheses. But when we’re young, we have limited experiences, so play and story allow us to enlarge our experiential range. Imagination lets us test possible scenarios, and thus develop metaphors and schema, which lead to world concepts.

Play has seeped into our culture at large, Wright said, pointing to all the devices we surround ourselves with. Along with their other functions, cell phones, cars, and even gadgets like the Roomba must now also entertain us. We have so much data coming in without natural filters that information is starting to replace instincts. But we can also use our devices as conduits to provide information: Because of computers and the Web, he said, and the overlap of online communities, we’re moving toward a sort of cooperative collective intelligence — a “hive mind.”

Videos and article from GearLog