May 3, 2021

Brain Puzzles

by Will, Ginger-Beard of Power

Think back over the games you have played in your life - the Rubix cube, crossword puzzles, Sudoku, board games, riddles. These are just a few ways we have found joy and pleasure using our brains to solve puzzles. You get a pleasant feeling trying to riddle them out, and an even better flow of emotions when you get it right. What is happening in your brain when you do this? We don't know everything, but we see this fun strengthens your mind, and we know you can rewire your brain. The most essential benefit (in my opinion) is becoming a better and faster problem solver in your everyday life.

Have you ever seen two people on each side of a couch, moving it into a new apartment? The spatial reasoning that it takes to solve getting the furniture around a bend or through a door can be honed playing brain puzzles! An excellent book to read on this topic is Thinking Physics, by Lewis Epstein and Paul Hewitt. This book has one physics puzzle after another. Do not let the “physics” part scare you. This book is full of things that happen in your world every day. Its the thinking through the “why” of it that is the fun, that makes you feel those good emotions and flexes your brain muscle. So give a physics puzzle a try!