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Ask HN: Which games do you recommend to improve thinking and reasoning?

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Re: Ask HN: Which games do you recommend to improve thinking and reasoning?

#61

Post by onecommentman »

dogprez wrote: post #28

I thought the idea that games can improve thinking and reasoning was debunked? Dedicating your life to chess doesn't mean they can put you in the general's chair and you'll be a military genius, just means you'll be good at chess.

Chess should help in impulse control and realizing the possibility and power of strategic thinking, which is thinking of a sort. For a lot of young people, that sort of wisdom could be very helpful in real life when a scam/easy money/grab the cash and run option shows up. The puzzle nature of tactics also trains the mind to intensely concentrate on one task.

Can’t see how chess would help much in “guess the next number”-type IQ tests. Chess at a certain level requires a very specific sort of pattern recognition that doesn’t really transfer. Sharp people do gravitate towards chess, and it is wonderfully egalitarian (cheap/ubiquitous) and culture-neutral.

Re: Ask HN: Which games do you recommend to improve thinking and reasoning?

#65

Post by pkhamre »

Rocket League. It will take a good amount of hours to learn mechanics, but this has been a game that really helped me out on learning routines and then being able to use those mechanics for intelligent plays. It's a lot about decision making and response time.

Re: Ask HN: Which games do you recommend to improve thinking and reasoning?

#67

Post by karmakaze »

Go board game. This is the one game that changes as the way you change your thinking in life changes. It's also a two way street, in that lessons learned on the board can be applied in your real life decision making and conceptualizations. On the one hand, it's a board game, meant to teach tactics and strategy. On the other, it's a conversation between two players where ideas are laid out, interpreted, and the one-upmanship continues, with minor misunderstandings leading to local losses. The board is large enough that you can lose several of those and still recover to win. It most closely follows competing for market share and over-reaching exposes you to risk and large potential losses. The thing I like most is that the player's personality appears in their playstyle, and when confronted with a different playstyle may be required to adapt, as a fast and loose style doesn't stand up when it comes in contact with a 'thick' one.

Btw, the game server that I used was KGS[0] that has a nice easy to use client. Go gained some popularity so there could be other popular game matching sites/software now.

[0] https://www.gokgs.com/

Re: Ask HN: Which games do you recommend to improve thinking and reasoning?

#68

Post by karmakaze »

fnord77 wrote: post #46
dogprez wrote: post #28

I thought the idea that games can improve thinking and reasoning was debunked? Dedicating your life to chess doesn't mean they can put you in the general's chair and you'll be a military genius, just means you'll be good at chess.

exactly right. the only thing you get better at by playing a game is that game.

I think this is true at the highest levels, but my experience with Go has been anything but. I've matured both on and off the board through playing it.

Re: Ask HN: Which games do you recommend to improve thinking and reasoning?

#69

Post by xscott »

karmakaze wrote: post #67

Go board game. This is the one game that changes as the way you change your thinking in life changes. It's also a two way street, in that lessons learned on the board can be applied in your real life decision making and conceptualizations. On the one hand, it's a board game, meant to teach tactics and strategy. On the other, it's a conversation between two players where ideas are laid out, interpreted, and the one-up…

> there could be other popular game matching sites/software now.

I like this one:

https://online-go.com

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