谢尔顿同款爱好，大人们为何也爱玩积木？丨Play is a serious business

Some people believe that "When I become a man, I put away childish things". But now many grownups are getting them out again.

一些人认为：“当我长大成人后，就应该收起孩子气的东西。” 然而当下，许多成年人又把它们拿出来了。

成年人对玩具的喜爱挽救了面临销售困境的玩具制造商们。伦敦玩具展开幕时，除了家长，童心未泯的大小孩也是忠实的看展者。根据市场调研公司the NPD Group的数据，12岁以上人群的玩具购买量占欧洲玩具总销量的23%。成年人自身依然是玩具购买的主力军。

▲ An adult is demonstrateing the Anti-Gravity UFO at the ToyFair, Olympia, London. Photo/IC China

The magic behind Lego

乐高的魔力

在一众玩具中，乐高是很多成年人的首选。

作为欧洲最大的玩具生产商，创立于1932年的乐高已是一位89的“老人”。但它的用户群体下至3岁小孩，上至90多岁的爷爷奶奶。童心未泯的“大小孩们”是他们品牌受众中不可或缺的一部分。

▲ Photo/VCG

There are some examples. The model of Old Trafford which is the home of Manchester United Football Club, aimed at over-16s costs £250 — hardly pocket-money pricing. The Forma range of mechanical models is for "adults looking for a fun, engaging way to reconnect with their creative side". In 2019, the company bought BrickLink, the world's largest online community of adult fans, to strengthen its ties with older users.

举例来说：曼联主场的老特拉福德球场模型受众为16岁以上人群，其售价为250英镑——对粉丝来说，定价相当划算。“锦鲤机械鱼”系列则是为想要寻找有趣、积极的方式来重塑创造力的成年人量身定做的。2019年，乐高又收购了最大的在线乐高粉丝社区BrickLink，以加强与忠实用户的联系……

▲ Photo by Alphacolor 13/Unsplash

“一拆开，就能安安静静玩半天。” “拼好一款大set会很有成就感。” “我要是有钱，拼完一个接着再买。” 这些都是成年乐高迷们的心声。

▲ 图片来源：《生活大爆炸》剧照

乐高看重成年人市场，成年人是乐高最大的粉丝，这些似乎都与我们通常的认知不符，因为人们常常认同玩乐是孩童的特权。

But play is a serious business.

但其实玩乐是一件认真的事情。

Lego is about more than nostalgia, though the Star Wars Millennium Falcon model (7,500 pieces; £650) certainly suggests that is a factor. The book Build Yourself Happy: The Joy of Lego Play, promises that getting hands-on can improve your cognitive skills and allow you to practice mindfulness. For many, it is a reaction to the stresses of modern adult life, a relief from the constant mediation of experience through a screen, and a rare opportunity to be in undisputed charge of things. The persistent, quiet focus required is a welcome respite from the endless stimulus-response of social media.

玩乐高不仅仅是为了怀旧，尽管星球大战系列千年隼号模型（由7500个零件组成；售价650英镑）表明怀旧是其中一个不可或缺因素。一本名为《乐高：建造你的快乐》（Build Yourself Happy: The Joy of Lego Play）的书中提到，动手可以提高认知能力，锻炼思维。对许多成年人来说，玩乐高可以帮助他们减轻生活压力，逃离屏幕生活，也是一个难得的让人们从容掌控事情发展的机会。搭建乐高需要持久、安静的专注力，这在社交媒体24小时更新的今天是非常难得的品质。

▲ 图片来源：乐高官网

Lego offers the possibility of purposeless, pressure-free creativity, whereas even hobbies such as baking and painting can be shadowed by the worry that the results will fail to please other people. No one could say that the most elaborate sets are undemanding; but to most people they will feel less taxing than, say, an Olga Tokarczuk novel.

乐高可以让人们无目的、无压力地创造。与之相较，烘焙和绘画这样的爱好，成果可能不尽如人意，因而让创作者产生担忧。当然，有些复杂的乐高装置想拼好也需要费不少功夫。但对大多数人来说，玩乐高显然比读奥尔加·托卡尔丘克（诺贝尔文学奖获得者）的作品更轻松。

▲ 图片来源：乐高官网

As with the vogue for adult coloring books (Secret Garden, which kickstarted the trend, sold millions of copies worldwide), or board games, they allow people to focus yet relax, instead of rushing to meet yet another target.

就像风靡全球的手绘涂色书《秘密花园》或棋盘游戏一样，好的娱乐方式一方面能让人们集中精力，另一方面又能让人们放松，而不是急于达到一个目标。

▲ 图片来源：《后翼弃兵》剧照

Many of us could do with more rest and recreation in our lives. Yet there is something dismal and even contradictory about the idea of play as a tool to make us more fit for the relentless demands of the adult world, and about the growing hunger for such an escape. Play is, as David Hockney once observed, serious.

如今，许多人休闲和娱乐的时间增多了。然而，有人将玩乐看做适应残酷成人世界的工具，也有越来越多人将玩乐看做一种逃脱，这样的想法令人沮丧，甚至相互矛盾。大卫·霍克尼曾说过，玩乐是一件认真的事情。

▲ Photo/VCG

玩乐是人类的基本需求，而非小朋友们的专利，它是一种生活态度。好的玩乐能激发创造力，让我们更好地掌控自己的生活。

来源：卫报

编辑：商桢