WIP, meditations while thinking about how I want buni to be

• One of the best things about the Manifold community spirit is the sense of play
  • This was designed into Manifest, to be a place where intellectuals play
  • Also most of my favorite sites (mmm.page, civitai, partiful)
• Part of Janus’s thoughts on LLMs too: you need to play with them to understand them

Things that facilitate play

• Liberty, freedom from (some) constraints
  • “Cheap” — easier to play when it doesn’t feel costly
  • “optional” — play is voluntary
• Sandbox — separation of effects from the “real world” (?)
  • In Secret Hitler you can lie and deceive and everyone agrees this is okay
  • You don’t think about your Manifold mana like cash
  • No real punishments
  • (cuts a bit against “everything is open”)
    • though it doesn’t have to, once openness is the norm
• Intimacy, trust — play requires a willingness to try things. that people don’t judge/criticize
• Focus, concentration? Can you play when you’re distracted?
• Messiness, lack of polish, imperfections
• Challenge? does play require obstacles?
  • cf Maro on making board games
  • And Maro on “constraints breed creativity”
• Novelty, exploration
  • Play is often about doing things one hasn’t done before
  • Though, some pieces: when I play a new Magic set, the framework is familiar and I’m exploring the card interactions

Play vs work

• You want to vs you have to
• At the highest level, work is in pursuit of money
  • Play is not really in pursuit of something, except maybe fun
• I often think working on Manifold was a ton of fun…
  • and that’s the way it should be!
• cf PG on what doesn’t feel like work, and doing what you love
• Work hard vs play hard
  • Is playing hard an oxymoron?
    • Playing hard is… traditionally, sth like your body can’t take it any more?

Related to play