Why playfulness is now more important than ever

Why playfulness is now more important than ever Why playfulness is now more important than ever After the death of Isaac Newton - a mythic figure even in his own lifetime - the poet Alexander Pope wrote the following epitaph for him:“Nature and nature’s laws lay hid in night;God said “Let Newton be” and all was light.”When you read something like this about a figure of history, it becomes hard to imagine them as mortal. Most of us don’t invent calculus or redefine optics in our 20s. We certainly don’t walk around laying down new foundations for the study of nature.But mortal they were. And as fascinating as it is to deify them, it’s perhaps just as interesting to imagine what they may have been like in person.We know that Newton was both humble and arrogant. When facing the laws of nature, he approached his work with reserved caution. When dealing with his rivals, however, he could be petty and vindictive - not exactly the stoic image of perfection that first comes to mind.