There’s something about solving a good puzzle or riddle that makes us happy. The thing is, it’s not random or mysterious. Our love of solving problems is based on science, as well as in our DNA and human history. Since the dawn of time, human beings have been solving problems, and those early men and women who were good problem solvers survived to live another. In turn, they procreated and had children who inherited their traits. In this way, the ones who were able to figure out problems and survive were the ones who lived to pass on their DNA. As a species, we’ve become smarter because of this.
Early humans from the Stone Age were busy solving problems all day every day. They had to invent the wheel and discover how to control and use fire, for example. Even today, we’re still solving problems every day, although they probably look quite a bit different from the problems our ancestors had to solve. Take a look at the image below. You see two rows of glasses. Your task is to make the top row look exactly like the bottom row by moving one glass. Can you figure it out? Give it your best shot. We’ll show you the solution on the next page. Here’s a hint: you have to think way outside the box on this one. Get creative in your problem-solving.
How did you do? If you need help (like I did), head on over to the next page.