When I was a kid, my mom would always get these crossword/word search/variety puzzle books. I was bored one day and was looking through one of them, and I found this really awesome tiered grid looking thing. It was a logic puzzle.
You are given a base set of information, and then given a chart to fill out based on said data. The grid thing was meant to help you figure out the answer. I became utterly fascinated. Every chance I got, I would borrow one of those books and work on the logic puzzles exclusively. My mom didn’t like those puzzles, so she had no issue with the fact that I was doing this. At first, I got the answers horribly wrong, but as I learned how to use the grids and how to think about things differently, I started to get some of the answers right.
I think that perhaps, this simple, boredom driven activity helped to shape my mind and how I think as an adult. It’s so funny. You don’t necessarily realize it, but the things you did and experienced as a child really do have an impact. I mean, yes, we all know that your childhood weighs heavily on your future as an adult. But a game in a puzzle book? Who’d a thunk it?
Now that I think about it, there was this other puzzle thing that I got from someone for a birthday or holiday or something. It was 4 cubes, with one of 4 colors on each side. They sat in this little frame, and you could take them out to turn them and whatnot. The goal was to have the same color on each of the 4 sides that would show while in the frame (one side all green, one side all yellow, etc). I messed with this randomly for a bit, and got frustrated. What did I do? I drew a 2D diagram of each cube, assigned a number for each position of each cube, and then went through different iterations of position on paper (many, many pages worth) until I figured out the answer. It took me about a week that summer, but it was worth it! And yes, most would say that I was a strange child. lol
Anyway, just some randomness for a random Monday. Have a great week!
L
A Peculiar Cerebral Tangle 