#107 AJ Jacobs | How Games, Puzzles, and Other Mind-Benders Improve Our Brains and Ourselves

Puzzles have a long history and are loved by millions of people worldwide. The New York Times crossword alone attracts 20 million people daily. And puzzles come in multiple forms: jigsaws, mazes, manipulable objects like Rubik’s Cubes, and even puzzles that require teams like escape rooms and scavenger hunts. Why do we love puzzles? Can they make us smarter? If so, how? Can they improve our mental or physical well-being? And might there even be a case for them making us better people? These and so many other questions will be answered by my most delightful guest, journalist, lecturer, and, my friend, New York Times best-selling author, AJ Jacobs (https://ajjacobs.com/)! AJ captured my attention nearly 20 years ago when I read his first major book, The Know-it-All, in which he put himself through one of his many self-imposed challenges.  That time he read the entire 33,000-page Encyclopedia Britannica in one year and wrote about his insights. Subsequently, as a human guinea pig, he has put himself through many experiments including one in which he lived according to the rules of the bible outlined in The Year of Living Biblically.  As a result of these experiments, he has become one of the most curious, open-minded, and creative thinkers I have ever met. What’s more, he has the gift being able to write intellectually stimulating and simultaneously hilarious material!  His latest book just dropped and is called The Puzzler: One Man's Quest to Solve the Most Baffling Puzzles Ever, from Crosswords to Jigsaws to the Meaning of Life. I absolutely loved it!  In it, AJ went deep into more than a dozen different types of puzzles learning their history, and writing about the challenges and insights he encountered. AJ has been consistently lauded by literary critics, thought leaders, comedians, and people from all walks of life. Gretchen Rubin, the author of The Happiness Project, described her experience reading the book in words that resonated with me, saying “Even though I’ve never attempted the New York Times crossword puzzle or solved the Rubik’s Cube, I couldn’t put down The Puzzler.” This is AJ's second visit to the SuperPsyched podcast, and I am over-the-moon delighted to host him and for you, my listener, to be the beneficiary of this extraordinary man’s heart and brain. So, listen in as AJ and I have a lively conversation about becoming smarter and, possibly, better people through puzzling. Get The Puzzler here: https://amzn.to/45YXy2S This is an affiliate link. It will provide me with a small commission on purchases made through it and help the podcast (but it won’t affect the price you pay).