Thread: Sudoku, anyone?

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

I think the average person finds them difficult or boring because they don't have any bias or emotion to grab onto. It's not a "coffee in the lap" kind of a problem. Certainly, repetitive.

Originally Posted by commiecat

You guys will be sorry the day that someone steals all of your shaving gear and leaves you a 9x9 Sudoku puzzle to solve in order to get them back!

Dang, yes, I just hate when that happens.

I kind of take a middle road with puzzles in general. I suspect that doing them probably does help your mental agility a bit, especially if you keep doing them at a level that challenges you; and learning a new type of puzzle (Sudoku if you're a crossword geek like me, crosswords or Scrabble if you are really good at Sudoku) probably helps a bit more.

But I think learning languages is even better for the brain. A language is more complex than any puzzle and pulls you into a never-ending interplay between structure, memorized knowledge, and creative improvisation, not to mention that you are learning at least some elements of a culture and a way of thinking at the same time.

And I have also read recently a couple of articles--probably sourced from the same study--asserting that exercise is probably better for your cognition than games or puzzles, and that makes sense to me. Your brain is a part of your body, after all, and inter alia uses more oxygen than any other organ.

By way of full disclosure, I'm way into the languages and always have been--currently taking a Spanish class, using Russian and a bit of Polish on the job, and poking around with Latin and Gaelic in spare moments--but the exercise, ummmmmmm, we could do with a little improvement there.

~Rich

Originally Posted by rastewart

Dang, yes, I just hate when that happens.

I kind of take a middle road with puzzles in general. I suspect that doing them probably does help your mental agility a bit, especially if you keep doing them at a level that challenges you; and learning a new type of puzzle (Sudoku if you're a crossword geek like me, crosswords or Scrabble if you are really good at Sudoku) probably helps a bit more.

But I think learning languages is even better for the brain. A language is more complex than any puzzle and pulls you into a never-ending interplay between structure, memorized knowledge, and creative improvisation, not to mention that you are learning at least some elements of a culture and a way of thinking at the same time.

And I have also read recently a couple of articles--probably sourced from the same study--asserting that exercise is probably better for your cognition than games or puzzles, and that makes sense to me. Your brain is a part of your body, after all, and inter alia uses more oxygen than any other organ.

By way of full disclosure, I'm way into the languages and always have been--currently taking a Spanish class, using Russian and a bit of Polish on the job, and poking around with Latin and Gaelic in spare moments--but the exercise, ummmmmmm, we could do with a little improvement there.

~Rich

I feel you on the exercise. I'm a language hound, myself. I adore Scrabble, and RULE at Trivial Pursuit LOL. I like crossword puzzles, but would rather read a book. Probably ought to try walking a bit more, though. I'm outdoors 12 hours every day, so often on my time off, I wanna stay INDOORS

I'd rather play guitar TBH! I find it really gets my brain going and I can be creative as well..!

My dad really likes sudoku, but I never really got into it.

Originally Posted by Joe Chandler

I feel you on the exercise. I'm a language hound, myself. I adore Scrabble, and RULE at Trivial Pursuit LOL. I like crossword puzzles, but would rather read a book. Probably ought to try walking a bit more, though. I'm outdoors 12 hours every day, so often on my time off, I wanna stay INDOORS

When I was younger we sometimes played trivial pursuit with a couple of friends, but one of them usually won. He knew the answers to almost all questions, no matter how obscure, no matter which category. We sometimes tested him by asking him the most obscure question on the card, rather than the proper category and he would still win. For example you'd ask 'who won the 1972 ladies synchronized swimming' and he'd actually know.

i read a great book called The Brain That Changes Itself which talks about using neural pathways more to optimize them and causing your brain to find the most efficient way of doing a task whether it be physical or mental. obviously there was much more to it, some of which was beyond me.

what i got from that book was (and i was working in a boring factory at the time and did sudoku regularly) that the initial learning of the act and the practicing of that act is what keeps your brain healthy, but simply repeating that action looses its effect as your brain becomes more efficient at performing the task. which is why exercise is so good for your brain, no matter how many times you do it there are always variables which challenge your brain plus moving your whole body in coordinated movement is incredibly complex so for your brain to become more efficient at one thing would take a lot of repetition.

that is what i got from it, i could be wrong though.