Does learning card tricks make you smarter than playing solitaire?
Have you ever watched someone play solitaire? Have you played it yourself? At first, people who play this card game devote a great deal of mental intent, but as they play, they move the cards quite quickly, anticipating what comes next and being ready for any possible move. At some point, they get so good at the game that they put it on autopilot and can carry on a conversation on the phone or with a group of people talking around the coffee table. Even people who do this in the office when they have to work are also able to complete their tasks, even if it is in a chaotic manner.
When people play solitaire, how much of their mind is really active? It turns out that for the first 10 to 15 minutes, their minds are very active, as read by an fMRI brain scanner, but like someone watching TV, their attention wanes over time. Those who have played solitaire under close supervision in research studies have shown that they also tend to make mistakes, get bored, or even cheat just so they can finish and quit. Some people play solitaire just to pass the time, similar to people who smoke cigarettes and become addicted to nicotine because it affects their brain and their sense of time.
Did you know that people who practice card tricks and magic tricks also have similar brain scanner attributes? That’s interesting, isn’t it? Why do you think that is? Much of this has to do with the dexterity of their fingertips as they play with the cards. When playing solitaire, the same thing happens with card tricks, because you have to be more careful and every hand movement has to be precise. The brain scanner shows this, moments of extreme concentration and then flat periods of nothing much. Isn’t it interesting that a solitaire player goes through the same process?
Even more interestingly, as the card trick player memorizes this trick and as he or she does it over and over again, their brain lights up less and less each time they do the same trick. Why is that? Could it be because they are memorizing these moves? Just like a martial artist might? Muscle memory, if you will? It’s an intriguing thought, isn’t it, and yet when was the last time you thought about that while playing Solitaire? Please consider all this and think about it.
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