I was born a few miles from Morecambe in Lancashire and learnt to do hill starts in a 1965 Morris Minor on the town’s various inclines. This post is not about the seaside town of Morecambe but my favourite book, Homo Ludens. V&R Chapter 6 explains Huizinga’s argument about the centrality of play in civilization. Regular readers will recall seeing plenty of blog posts with applications of his thinking (http://www.ethicsoffashion.com/scheler-huizinga-rediscovered-shop-near/).
Gamification of gyms is a growing trend (https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-years-fitness-resolutions-the-smartest-way-to-keep-them-1515006084)(WSJ has a paywall: sorry).
As enormous numbers of people report, keeping fit is often horribly boring. To combat this, gyms are starting to make fitness a function of games, teams, competition, and score boards. The article points to a study that shows those working out in a competitive team setting exercise 90% more than those jogging and cycling alone. Huizinga is not remotely surprised.
