If It's So Pointless, Why Can't I Stop?

I recently got bitten by the Sudoku bug - you know, those strange 9x9 number grids showing up in the newspaper next to the crossword and the jumble. But after doing them for a while, and getting somewhat adept at them, I have to wonder what's the point? What do you have when you're done but a 9x9 grid of numbers?

I've loved doing the NY Times crossword for years, but I gave it up a few years ago when I let my Times subscription lapse. (I know I can do it on-line, but it's not the same.) To complete a Times crossword takes a modicum of factual and vocabulary knowledge. The end result isn't anything to hang on one's wall, but it shows that one has some ability for abstract thought. Likewise, jigsaw puzzles take some manual dexterity and spatial skills, and you end up with a pretty picture at the end.

Sudoku requires the ability to think logically in order to identify patterns and place the numbers in their correct place. This is nothing to sneeze at, but I can pretty easily write a computer program to solve a Sudoku puzzle. I think most programmers would be hard pressed to do the same for crosswords and jigsaws.

And yet, I still find myself doing the daily Sudoku. Why? Part of the appeal, I think, is that the puzzles stroke the pattern-matching engine that lives at the core of the human brain. Those of us in engineering fields may also take obsessive-compulsive delight at putting rows and columns of numbers in the right order. But still, it there any less productive way to spend my time? In the time it takes to do a puzzle I could read a magazine article, or write a blog entry, or, god-forbid, do my job.

I could go on, but there's a puzzle with my name on it.