Are You Having Fun Yet?
Brighton Science Festival | 7th September 2017 | Are You Having Fun Yet?
I went along thinking it would be good to hear what someone had to say about fun and all credit to Ben Fincham who was highly engaging, charasmatic and fun!
- Is fun a bi product pertaining to other areas of life or is it something in and of itself?
- Happiness is often conflated with Wellbeing (ref National Happiness Index 2010). Does fun have a part to play in our happiness and wellbeing?
WHAT IS FUN?
- Moments of levity with someone
- Usually not work connected
- Often alleviates the beasts of monotony
The use of the word “Fun” has evolved over the years:
- 17th Century: Usually referred to cheating or a swindle(r)
- 18th Century: Usually referred to lower classes. Often subversive
- 19th Century: Working class subversion; not doing what your boss tells you
- 20th Century: Exciting goings on. Post WW2, fun becomes an important part of who you are and characterised how someone lived in the moment. Previously, the sophisticated classes took pleasure in something
- Modern Day: Social media focuses and accentuates fun
WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF FUN?
- Temporality: a deviation from the norm, very much in the here and now
- A temporary alleviation of responsibility or anticipation
- Distraction: where the focus is on the fun experience and not what preceded it
CHILDHOOD FUN (uninhibited/public)
Some of the most common references mentioned by children:
ADULT FUN (structured and contextualised)
Often adults will say that they don’t have fun, but if they do refer to it, it is usually contextualised as follows:
- Talking, banter, laughter
- Holiday, sports, travel
- Grandparent inter-actions with grandchildren
The Schema of Fun -v- Pleasure
Ben Fincham referred to fun being on a scale with Pleasure.
Where Pleasure conveys some degree of committment and dedication, Fun is instantaneous and flippant:
- Fun > Pleasure
- Trivia > Relevance
- Repetition > Progression
- Spectacle > Aesthetic
- Transgression > Commitment
OBSERVATIONS OF FUN
- Inhibition interrupts adults having fun. Fincham made a point that inhibition is taught with levels of seriousness increasing through the life cycles process
- Adult fun usually involves cutting lose of those inhibitive norms/contexts – eg. Friday, holiday, pub, etc
- Drugs/alcohol are often mentioned alongside adult fun; providing a forced context within which to have fun
- Not having fun is pretty much part of the normal day to day
- Life Satisfaction levels show a massive dip between the ages of 40-59 (ref: ONS)
- Happiness levels also dip, as above
- Anxiety levels shoot up through the course of the life cycle process
- More social responsibilities result in lower levels of fun and happiness all round
- Notably, all levels of happiness improved in the 65+ age groups; Responsibility, commitment and anxiety alll reduced after 65
HOW TO HAVE FUN
- Having fewer worries aids happiness
- Allow space to have moments to be spontaneous – just like children
- It can be good not knowing outcomes (just like children). It is the unexpected that matters
- Acknowledge fun. Be naughty (transgress the power norms)
- Book. Work and The Mental Health Crisis in Britain, Ben Fincham, 2011
- Paper: . Blythe Hassenzahl, 2004.
- Office of National Statistics (ONS): National Well-Being Index