Human beings possess an instinct for puzzles

Answer

According to Marcel Danesi, human beings possess an instinct for puzzles. In his book The Puzzle Instinct: The Meaning of Puzzles in our Lives he explores the alleged puzzle instinct in human beings. One may not quite comprehend the reason why human beings derive immense satisfaction from creating and solving different puzzles. However, one thing remains indisputable; that since immemorial puzzle solving has been considered to be a fundamental source of inner gratification for mankind; but why? The subject of precisely what drives and determines the human desire to create and solve puzzles has been a longstanding controversy, particularly in the contemporary society (Götschl, 1995).

Imperatively, a puzzle is defined as a problem with only one solution but for which there are ideally multiple paths to derive the answer. Essentially, puzzles provide an individual with new perception and insight on the world we live in. oftentimes, the solution is rational but also surprising, witty, and unusual. There are predominantly five types of puzzles: language, logic, visual, numbers, and puzzle games (Danesi, 2011).

Regardless of the fact that puzzles are ostensibly trivial posers characterized with being time-consuming and requiring significant mental effort but offering no virtual reward besides the gratification of solving them, people in all stations in life go to extreme lengths to create and solve puzzles. It pegs the question of whether puzzle-solving is psychologically determined or instinctually driven. Nonetheless, puzzles have a consequential implication in the human life.

With reference to philosophy, Henry David Thoreau, an American author (1817-1862) stated, “For some enigmatic reason, human beings require that things be mysterious” (Danesi, 2004). Notably, this is an argument that draws on the solving of puzzles as being instinctually driven. Fundamentally, it is much more profound than mere psychology as no explanation can be derived as to why human beings crave mystery, particularly in the form of puzzles.

Additionally, the intense meaning of puzzles in the human life is evident in the way the conception of puzzles is being commercialized in the society, both in the ancient and contemporary periods. Primarily, books that relate to mystery and puzzles are highly-marketable in society. For instance, during the medieval periods, the Book of Games was one of the record best—selling books (Tausig, 2013). Today, detective novels and films are highly-desirable to individuals. Moreover, there are games such as chess, checkers, board and card games which were prevalent among the aristocrats and commoners in ancient times. With regards to children, the demand for game boards, jigsaw puzzles, and Lego sets among others is significantly high in the market. While people may simply disregard this seemingly desperate need to create and solve puzzles as being a mere hobby, general trends indicate otherwise. It is a noteworthy fact that from children to adults, the need to solve puzzles is virtually obsessive. For this philosophical reason, I perceive that the creation and solving of puzzles cannot me simply attributed to psychological aspects. In essence, if that were the case, then the entire human population would hardly be affected by such a seemingly pointless fixation which derives no formidable rewards. Arguably however, based on the presumption that all human beings crave mystery and derive such deep gratification from solving puzzles, there is an existent puzzle instinct in every person which pushes individuals to solve puzzles. Whether simple, or not, meaningful or pointless; the level of satisfaction derived is overwhelming.

From a psychological perspective, it is commonly agreed that there is explicitly so much more affiliated with puzzles than mere amusement. Over the years, while various psychologists concur on the perception that the need to solve puzzles is universal, they have made scientific developments by diagnosing such syndromes as puzzle depression and puzzle fixation. These two conditions are characterized by a fierce, illogical yearning for puzzles.

Moreover, it can be presumed that the puzzle instinct may be culturally driven as well. Essentially, there are several accounts of puzzles in various cultures passed down from generation to generation. For instance, the legend of the sphinx denotes that the solving of a particular puzzle was so meaningful that it was aligned with human life. In essence, failure to solve the puzzle meant death for the unfortunate individual. Reflectively, when such importance is attached to conception of puzzles, it is virtually impossible for people to resist the allure of indulgence, even in the contemporary society. Additionally, the conception of mazes and labyrinths was supposedly derived from the Greek culture whereby a king built a labyrinth and sent individuals into it (Moscovich, & Robinson, 2015). The essence of the legend was that one either had to solve the trick of the labyrinth and find a way out or face death. Presently there are mazes created in different cultures and societies. While the significance of indulging in such is relatively inconsequential, it can be presumed that culture has a role to play in the societal fixation with puzzles. In effect, the puzzle instinct seems to have been in existence for ages.

Furthermore, scholars concur on the role played by Mathematics in the intensity of the influence of puzzles in the human life. Principally, the development of mathematics in the1800 B.C periods, particularly as relates to Egyptian mathematicians, required that people come up with ways to solve calculations from simple mathematics to linear equations and measurements. Hence, the Moscow Papyrus was invented. Consequently, such efforts inspired the need to keep generating methods of solving mathematical problems which further advanced into a psychological habit. Illustratively, in time Mathematics problems were formulated in terms of stories such as algebraic statements, which appeared in the form of puzzles and required one to deduce the meanings and solve the problems. People embraced the challenge of finding different paths towards a common mathematical solution and thus the puzzle instinct took over and passed down through generations.

All in all, puzzles are an inherent part of society. They have been handed down over the ages among different cultures but the common factor still remains that whether in the form of numbers, games, logic, visual, or language, people crave to solve puzzles and mysteries on a universal scale. Presumably, every individual possesses a profound instinct that is connected to puzzles which accounts for the reason why humans are frequently drawn to things and situations that pose a challenge of sorts. More importantly, the puzzle instinct can serve as an explanation as to why human derive such intense gratification from solving somewhat meaningless puzzles. It is mainly psychological but on a much deeper level; essentially, some inner instinct is satisfied when a puzzle is solved. Conclusively, whether influenced by mathematics, culture, poetry, or philosophy, puzzle-solving is imperative to mankind. While the amount of importance humans attach to puzzles can be alarming, it is not necessarily a bad thing to engage one’s mind, even if for something seemingly pointless as a puzzle.