Comment by yieldcrv

> play has remained somewhat of a mystery, being associated with no immediate adaptive function

because it releases dopamine and is not related to whether the animal or someone will crack or be cracked with viable offspring

evolution via natural selection doesn’t require every trait to have a meaning or purpose, why do intellectuals get it backwards with retroactive explanation

if the trait persists or is present after sexual maturity, then it doesn’t get weeded out by sex and has no purpose or adaptive explanation whatsoever

in this case, play releases dopamine. dopamine production is a guiding force for being with dopamine.

mammals get addicted. rats and humans react the same to the same reward experiments. dogs exhibit the same traits while being exempt from the experiments