Pearce believed that active, imaginative play is the most important of all childhood activities because it cultivates mastery of one's environment, which he terms "creative competence."

 

Children denied that form of play develop feelings of isolation and anxiety. He also argued that adults trap themselves in rigid cultural conditioning ("the cosmic egg") and must unlearn those limits to recover a childlike, creative capacity. 

 

 He viewed adult creativity as breaking free of consensus reality,  he taught that genuine creativity requires dropping the need for perfection and accepting mistakes as natural pathways for growth.