Consciousness and Puzzles

Most of us have experienced moments of exquisite pleasure when fitting that last piece into a jigsaw puzzle, or writing that last number in a Sudoku grid. From a biological point of view, what brings us pleasure is usually related to what keeps us alive and enables us to reproduce. But the enjoyment received via puzzles is at first sight an anomaly – it doesn’t provide us with food or shelter, and it certainly doesn’t bring us closer to a sexual mate. Scientists like me love these apparent exceptions to the rules. To us, they are the scientific puzzles that most motivate us in our work.

In this case, humanity’s bizarre love of patterns in games may well be the key to unlocking the purpose of consciousness. Over at Capeia I recently wrote an article about this, and about consciousness science in general. Capeia is an exciting new site that combines cutting edge science articles with an innovative way to crowdfund scientific research. Check it out.

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