Puzzle of the Day

            

The set above has 5 members. What's that you say? You see 6 pictures? Well, then, tell me which two represent the same member of the set!

Check back tomorrow for the answer, a shoutout to all the solvers, and a new puzzle!

Previous puzzle:

According to one sociologist, a ____ can be defined as an activity with the following characteristics. What word goes in the blank?

BONUS: If you think you solved the main puzzle, can you think of any possible counterexamples to this definition (i.e., a ____ that lacks one or more of these characteristics, or something that has all these characteristics but is not a ____)?

Answer:

The answer is GAME. This definition was proposed by Roger Caillois. However, the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein had previously argued that trying to draw precise boundaries around the concept of "game" was futile. (A strange game, defining words; the only winning move is not to play.)

I'd say Wittgenstein got the better of the argument, considering these counterexamples y'all provided:

• Not fun: War, tic-tac-toe, bad educational games
• Not separate: ARGs (alternate reality games), Pokémon Go, The Game (Jessica says "if only it were circumscribed in time and space")
• Not uncertain: Also war
• Not non-productive: Foldit, gambling games, games that develop life skills, "those gamified projects where researchers have tricked poor, unsuspecting people into spending time identifying galaxies or tracing the outlines of neurons in microscope data"
• Not governed by rules: Calvinball, the prisoners' dilemma
• Not fictitious: Truth or Dare, the no game

Jessica added, "Life, if you're one of the whole 'life is but a game' people. Although, I suppose to someone like that, maybe life really is light-hearted, non-productive, and fictitious."

Cheers to solvers Peter M., Josh M., Jessica, Anna K., Atticus, Leo S., Dr. Yetman, and Jason!