Asked ChatGPT about LEGO, it can said the following
Its true innovation was that it enabled creative play without role predefinition
An American action figure tells you who you are
An American engineering kit tells you how things work
LEGO lets you decide what exists
That is a fundamentally different cognitive proposition.
If we ask “where did Americans first normalize open-ended world construction?”, then tabletop role-playing games—especially Dungeons & Dragons—are the closest analogue.
