By Alison Gopnik
This article is excerpted from Alison Gopnik’s book, The Gardener and the Carpenter

Why play? Childhood and play go together, and most parents and teachers have a vague intuition that play is a Good Thing. But if play really makes you smarter, or more focused, or more empathic, why not just aim to be smarter or more focused or more empathic directly? Why go through the elaborate detour of play? Read more in The Atlantic.