|
THE New
York Post described it as “diabolically addictive.”
The
Economist said it is “a puzzling global phenomenon.” And
New York Magazine once said it was “England’s
most addictive newspaper puzzle,” reason perhaps for BBC
News to say simply it’s “the latest craze in games.”
But all
these respected media entities aren’t talking of a
public or health hazard or a vice. They’re simply trying
to find the right words to describe Sudoku, the rage
that has been sweeping across Europe and Asia—and then
North America—the past many years, spawning millions of
books of numbers puzzles and promp-ting the World Puzzle
Federation (WPF) among others, to mount a world Sudoku
Championship, now entering its third year and set in Goa,
India.
Sudoku,
once warned a writer in The Times of London, “is
dangerous stuff. Forget work and family—think papers
hurled across the room and industrial-sized blobs of
correction fluid. I love it.”
And to
The Daily Telegraph, “Sudoku is to the first decade of
the 21st century what Rubik’s Cube was to the 1970s.”
In one
of the first lengthy articles describing the phenomenon,
the Associated Press wrote: “Britain
has a new addiction. Hunched over newspapers on crowded
subway trains, sneaking secret peeks in the office, a
puzzle-crazy nation is trying to slot numbers into small
checkerboard grids.”
Yet,
it’s not just an addictive, time-wasting habit. Perhaps
the most important part about Sudoku is its contribution
to mental health, according to Dr. Simon L. Chua,
president of the Mathematics Trainers Guild-Philippines
(MTG-Phil.), the country’s only accredited institution
of the WPF.
Dr.
Chua, awarded the prestigious UK-based Paul Erdos award
for outstanding work in math education, explained to
BusinessMirror why Sudoku is good for the brain.
“Our
brain is like a muscle: it gets stronger with regular
exercise and weaker if it’s not used. All mental
challenges—puzzles, quizzes, word games or
whatever—provide valuable exercise for the brain, but
Sudoku forms a particularly good daily workout.”
Solving
Sudoku, according to the famous math mentor, requires
analysis and deduction, which stimulates the left side
of the brain (the “logical half”). “In all but the
easiest puzzles this is balanced by the need to
recognize patterns and apply a degree of intuition
[always backed up by accurate analysis!], which
exercises the right side of the brain [the ‘creative
side’].”
As the
puzzles get harder, he adds, “we rely increasingly on
our working memory—our ability to assemble, remember and
process large amounts of information on a short-term
basis.”
Moreover, “working memory improves with exercise, and is
linked to general IQ.” He cited research in
Sweden
showing that children who completed a few weeks of
working-memory training gained an average of eight IQ
points.
“If we
solve a difficult Sudoku puzzle without the aid of
written notes, we could think of this as giving our
working memory the equivalent of 30 minutes on a rowing
machine at its toughest setting.”
His
final reminder: “It’s widely acknowledged today that
regular mental exercise, along with other factors such
as good diet and physical activity, can improve the
brain’s capabilities at all ages. In the elderly it can
also help to prevent the onset of dementia and
Alzheimer’s, prolonging life in the process. Scientists
at
Edinburgh
University
even think they may have found the reason for this:
mental activity awakens dormant ‘survival genes’ in the
brain, which prevent brain cell decay.” Whew!
So,
prods the hard-driving math teacher, keep doing Sudoku!
That,
exactly, is what 63 participants from all over the
Philippines will do, for one whole grueling day, at the
2nd Sudoku Super Challenge National Finals this
Saturday, January 19, from
10 a.m. to
5 p.m. at the University of Makati Mini-theater in
Makati
City.
This is
the second year that MTG-Phil. under Dr. Chua will
organize the event, and the first time for
BusinessMirror to serve as its prime institutional
partner.
As the
MTG is officially accredited by WPF, the winners of the
January 19 National tilt will officially represent the
country in the 3rd World Sudoku Championship in Goa,
India, in April. |
