Mom: “Playing Sudoku makes you smart. I bought a book for you.”
Kid (with a sad face): “Okay Mom!”
What is sudoku?
It is a 9*9 grid where each 3*3 grid, row and column should be filled with all 9 digits.(1–9).
Where can you find them?
They are available in daily newspapers, magazines, websites, applications, books. Just everywhere.
Does sudoku make you really smart?
I first came across Sudoku in 2006 when they started featuring it in ‘The Hindu’ newspaper. I was always inquisitive about new things, so was I about Sudoku. I started solving them daily.
One day, my class teacher, who I thought was a very intelligent person, expressed her concern in the class that she was not able to solve Sudoku. I felt a childish accomplishment that I achieved something great.
Was it actually great?
Before I answer that, let us see what sudoku tests you in.
Sudoku is useful in :
- Logical intelligence:
Sudoku is a logic puzzle. Any person who does not even know numbers but can think logically can do it. So it tests just the logical part of the brain. There are nine types of intelligence and logic is just one of them. So you become logically intelligent as that part of your brain is getting trained daily.
2.Competitive exams:
When I was preparing for competitive exams, I found arranging questions come intuitively to me. My friend who used to compare her speed with mine in that area used to think that I was blessed with logical intelligence. But the truth was I just spent more time in training that area of my brain.
3.Keeps mind occupied:
When I was in college, a few classes were really boring. I used to cut the Sudoku from the Hindu paper and put in on the notebook. I was happily solving it while my Professor thought that I was jotting down points and solving problems. Solving Sudoku was better than mindless chatter or day-dreaming or worrying about imaginary problems.
Overall Sudoku is a good training for the brain.But it is not the best.
Because
- It trains only one part of the brain.
- You need to establish connections in your brain to leverage this intelligence to solve other logical problems
- It is not the ultimate. If you don’t enjoy it, you can always find other puzzles which will provide similar training to your brain.
And most importantly, Sudoku does not talk about your intelligence. X, who cleared one of the toughest exams in India, can’t solve a Sudoku of level beyond 2 of ‘The Hindu paper’ while I who could not clear the same exam can solve level 5 of Sudoku.
So it is all about where you want to apply the intelligence you have in life.
Happy solving Sudoku!
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Originally published at lensq.com on December 6, 2017.