Moore blogs with Huffington Post about fun

Thomas Moore blogs with Huffington Post today, answering "Why fun is a serious issue". He refers to the medical stage, his own experiences and the role of folly in daily life:

"The word "fun" has its origin in the word "fool." Erasmus, that witty, theology-inclined philosopher of Renaissance Europe, claimed that life is worth living because of its foolishness. We are worth knowing and loving only because we are so often fools, intentionally or unintentionally.

I think it's legitimate to translate the title of Erasmus's most famous book, written incidentally at Thomas More's house in London, as In Praise of Fun. Here's what he says about marriage: "How many more divorces would there be if married couples didn't flatter each other, laugh things off, relax, be deceived and pretend that things are not the way they are. This is all fun!"

Modern life -- and I mean the modernist myth that shapes us -- is, in contrast, deadly serious. The fun has gone out of work, and if the fun is gone, what is left? What is left is a soulless culture, because in some mysterious way a soulful life and fun go together. When I would tell my father of my heavy schedule and impossible workload, he would always say, "As long as you're having fun."

Read the entire essay and register with Huffington Post to comment.