The what as well as the why of animal fun

Fun is functional: play is evolution’s way of making sure animals acquire and perfect valuable skills in circumstances of relative safety. Yet precisely what animals find fun has seldom been examined for what it can potentially reveal about how they represent and think about the world. Fun is functional: play is evolution’s way of making sure animals acquire and perfect valuable skills in circumstances of relative safety. In this Essay, Richard Byrne discusses what animals find fun, and what this may reveal about how they represent and think about the world.