If Life Is a Game, How Come I'm Not Having Fun: A Guide to Life's Challenges

by Brenner, Paul

• ISBN13: 9780791449639
• ISBN10: 0791449637
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-05-01
• Publisher: STATE UNIV OF NEW YORK PRESS

Author Biography

Paul Brenner is an analyst at the Department of Commerce in Washington, DC.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xiii
Carl Hosticka
Acknowledgments	xv
Introduction	1	(8)
Part 1: Life by the Rules
What Life Is in the Modern Era	9	(14)
The Elks of Sporthaven	10	(1)
The World as a Stage	11	(1)
Bob Hope and the Knights of St. Gregory the Great with Star	12	(2)
Mirna, the Queen of Azaleas	14	(2)
Daily Living through Role-Play	16	(1)
A Vitamin Called ``Viewing Life as a Game,''	17	(2)
Childhood Memories	19	(4)
The Parallel Worlds We Live In	23	(12)
Private Dominions	25	(2)
The Religion Game	27	(4)
The Social Aspect of Religion	31	(1)
The Line between Belief and Make-Believe	32	(3)
Persona and Performance	35	(12)
The Meaning of Life for War Prisoners	38	(2)
Robert Landy's Role Categories in Everyday Life	40	(2)
Our Analog ``I,''	42	(5)
The Theatres of Society	47	(12)
Rules of Games	50	(2)
Play Smart--Choose the Right Theatre	52	(3)
Twenty Political and Two Business Roles	55	(4)
Think, Don't Believe	59	(14)
A Game Called ``Advertising,''	63	(1)
The Game Alcoholics Play	64	(2)
The Drama of Suffering	66	(1)
Play in Sickness	67	(6)
Part 2: Success Redefined
Can Work Be Playful?	73	(12)
Games of Strategy	74	(2)
The Multimillion-Dollar Executive Games of Virtual Reality	76	(2)
Vacationing on the Austrian Alps	78	(2)
Let's Play Sisters	80	(2)
A Historical Snapshot of Our Paradigm	82	(2)
Four Chords of Mental Health	84	(1)
A Journey's Aim	85	(14)
A Conversation with Nisragadatta	87	(3)
The Inmates' Revolt	90	(1)
In the Royal Gardens of Innsbruck	91	(2)
The Competitive Edge	93	(2)
Kohn's Case against Competition	95	(1)
The Meaning of Anxiety	96	(3)
Happiness and Bargains	99	(18)
Successful Executives Pay the Price	103	(2)
Kant and the Morality of Unhappiness	105	(1)
How ``Success in Life'' May Be Redefined	106	(1)
Martin	107	(2)
How It Came to Be That We Have Ten Commandments	109	(3)
Stretching Up Hands into the Mist	112	(5)
Part 3: Joyous Minds
The War Games Nations Play	117	(18)
A Game Bigger than Life	120	(5)
Elements of Adventure	125	(1)
In the Armed Forces	126	(1)
On the Theory That We Are Genetically Evil	127	(1)
On the Theory That We Are Born Tabula Rasa	128	(1)
On the Theory That We Are Genetically Both Good and Evil	129	(1)
Lessons from the Holocaust	130	(2)
The Elephant and the Fly	132	(1)
Riding the Roller Coaster	133	(2)
Peace Dance in the Moonlight	135	(8)
Alexander's Ideal: A World United in Peace	138	(1)
The Game of a City of Happy People	138	(3)
The Inside of a Cup	141	(2)
Theories of Play and Healing: Reviewing Research	143	(12)
Five Classical Theories of Play	144	(1)
J. C. Friedrich von Schiller	145	(1)
Five Contemporary Theories of Play	146	(1)
Pleasure versus Utility	147	(1)
Prof. Lewis Terman and the Famous ``Termites''	148	(1)
Play Therapy and Healing	148	(2)
Role-Play and Creativity	150	(1)
The Perils of Illusion in Play	151	(1)
Animals at Play	152	(3)
Life Is Tough, Tough But Fun	155	(4)
Epilogue	159	(2)
Notes	161	(10)
Bibliography	171