Is entertainment an essential human need?

We expend so much conscious and subconscious time, and energy, in our life thinking of, talking about, and seeking entertainment that, more often than not, we fail to consider what entertainment is; and, is about?

Entertainment consists of any activity which provides a diversion or permits people to amuse themselves in their leisure time. Thus, though entertainment is usually associated with a source or means of amusement; the act of receiving or caring for guests; hospitable accommodation in the inn or dwelling of a host; the providing of food, lodging, and service to a guest; are all considered as entertainment.

Entertainment is generally passive, such as watching an opera or a movie. Active forms of amusement, such as sports, are more often considered to be recreation. Activities such as personal reading or practising a musical instrument are considered to be hobbies.

Entertainment usually tends to provide pleasure, fun, enjoyment and laughter

Entertainment usually tends to provide pleasure, fun, enjoyment and laughter. The industry that provides entertainment is called the entertainment industry.

There are many forms of entertainment such as: cinema, theatre (drama), sports, games, a social party, etc. Through entertainment, we beguile a weary hour; cheer the despondent; divert the preoccupied; enliven a dull evening or company; gratify our friends' wishes; entertain, interest, please a listening audience; occupy idle time; disport ourselves when merry; recreate when worn with toil; and we amuse ourselves or others with whatever pleasantly passes the time without special exertion - each according to his taste.

Given the fulfilment of the primary urge of all life forms for sustenance, rest, procreative activity, and to be free of fright; man alone has the additional need, and the ability, to be occupied with thought and logic.

These latter two faculties distinguish humans from the lesser beings of the evolutionary process.

Thus, human needs can be categorized; in a descending order of priorities - limited to the scope of our purpose - as: food, clothing, shelter, occupation, religion, etc., - the last two being the result of thought and logic.

In countries that have achieved sufficiency in food, clothing and shelter for people living in those nations; occupation would hold a predominant place in the table of requirements. Based upon the purpose, occupation itself can be classified into three separate entities: for gain; for leisure and pleasure; and, in search of knowledge.

Even people who are occupied for gain or in pursuit of knowledge, have needs for leisure and pleasure because such activity is a biological urge. It is the process of relaxation that helps unwind the body mechanisms without conscious effort, akin to sleep. Thus, as a part of leisure and pleasure activities, entertainment would be an essential human requirement - as crucial and indispensable as sleep.

But, as I sat down to write this, and having satisfactorily arrived at the answer to the question: is entertainment an essential human need; I was confounded with more questions than answers. What is entertainment about. Who needs entertainment the most? Are some kinds of entertainment better for you than others? Which kinds? Is it better to play a game of poker or to watch a video? Try doing each for a little while and record your feelings. Was one more entertaining than the other? How? Why? Did one make you more aggressive or less likely to do something productive in the world around you? Did either change the way you felt about yourself? How?

One of the things I was struck by while writing this article was the way entertainment can work as a substitute for action.

If I can identify with a character on TV "on a soap opera, for instance" then I get to feel all the feelings that character feels, without having to do the actions that result in those feelings. I get to feel jealous without having a cheating spouse, excited by the intrigue of adultery without being an adulterer, and intimate without ever actually talking to a living human being. In short, I get to feel.

Some researchers believe that feelings are the way we human beings experience our world most fully, but is there a price to pay when we feel our emotions in a way that's disconnected from the physical world around us?

That is, if we get to feel feelings without taking risks, do we start to lose our ability to risk emotion in the "real world"? I don't have a definite answer to that for you, but I do have one for me. I've come to the conclusion that entertainment is while maybe necessary for emotional and psychological health definitely a dangerous substance. Like fire. So, for my part, I'll still watch a film now and then.

But I'll also think afterwards about how watching that film, getting that emotional satisfaction, affects my ability to act in the real world. You might consider doing the same; it actually turns out to be pretty entertaining. Well readers, see you this day next week. Until then, keep thinking, keep laughing. Life is mostly about these two activities.

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