John von Neumann and Play

In his book Prisoner's Dilemma, William Poundstone writes about the formation of Game Theory and the genius who gave Game Theory its most formal mathematical basis: John von Neumann. In the book Poundstone describes why von Neumann plays.

Many have noted von Neumann's fascination with play, his collection of children's toys, his sometimes childish humor. In this he was not atypical among scientists. Jacob Bronowski wrote (1973), "You must see that in a sense all science, all human thought, is a form of play. Abstract thought is the neoteny of the intellect, by which man is able to carry out activities which have no immediate goal (other animals play only while young) in order to prepare himself for long-term strategies and plans." (Poundstone, p. 39)