ABSTRACT
We live in two worlds at the same time. One of these is the world outside our skulls that is tangible, risky, and demanding. The other world exists only within the brain’s private realm lodged between our ears. These are not, however, entirely separate worlds. The inherent interrelatedness of our inner and outer worlds is shown by how dedicated we are as a species to making the outer world live up to our inner mental world both physically (in the things we build, and the things we destroy), and also conceptually (in the rules we create to get us through life, such as on which side of the highways we build we must by law drive on). Mastering the art of living in both of our worlds at one and the same time takes time. Learning to do so begins even before birth. Sometimes the learning involved is called play—as illustrated in this chapter by Gabe Terrell’s recollections of his early love of toy cars and trucks and things that go.
