Distinctiveness of Entertainment
Entertainment can be distinguished from other activities such as education and marketing even though they have learned how to use the appeal of entertainment to achieve their different goals. The importance and impact of entertainment is recognised by scholars and its increasing sophistication has influenced practices in other fields such as museology. Psychologists say the function of media entertainment is "the attainment of gratification" and no other results or measurable benefit are usually expected from it (except perhaps the final score in a sporting entertainment). This is in contrast to education (which is designed with the purpose of developing understanding or helping people to learn) and marketing (which aims to encourage people to purchase commercial products). However, the distinctions become blurred when education seeks to be more "entertaining" and entertainment or marketing seek to be more "educational". Such mixtures are often known by the neologisms "edutainment" or "infotainment". The psychology of entertainment as well as of learning has been applied to all these fields. Some education-entertainment is a serious attempt to combine the best features of the two.
The possibility that an entertainment might produce some insight in its audience comes about when its subject matter considers universal philosophical questions such as: "What is the meaning of life?"; "What does it mean to be human?"; "What is the right thing to do?"; or "How do I know what I know?". Questions such as these are important drivers in many narratives and dramas, whether they are presented in the form of a story, film, play, poem, book, dance, comic or game. Examples include Shakespeare's very influential play Hamlet, whose hero articulates these concerns in poetry. Novels give great scope for exploring these themes while they entertain. Film examples include The Matrix which explores the nature of knowledge. An example of a comedy that considers a range of philosophical questions, such as the meaning of life, as well as "the ethics of entertainment, artificial intelligence, multiple worlds, God, and philosophical method" is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. This entertainment, originally a radio comedy, is so popular that it has also appeared as a novel, film, television series, stage shows, comic, audiobook, LP record, adventure game and online game and has been translated into many languages.
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