Forum Topic

Lumosity

Anyone?

Viv Griffiths ● 2044d5 Comments

Mmm,dunno.They've been taken to court about their advertising.Online backgammon is my brain training.I'm trying to get to grips with bridge.go amd mahjong.Learning another language is probably the best form of brain training.

Ben Gemmingen ● 2044d

I tend to agree with Ben.  I would add learning a musical instrument to his list.  Also I suspect that reading slightly challenging books, fiction or non-fiction, would be more likely to boost brain power than a one-size-fits-all programme like Lumosity.  Go is a fabulous game, isn’t it.  I was very into it for a while.

Alastair Banton ● 2043d

I found Go utterly impossible!  I'm not seeing Lumosity as a training method, only as a computer game like any other, but I really enjoy how difficult the games become as I get better at them.

Viv Griffiths ● 2043d

Haven't tried this Lumosity but if it's against the clock I doubt it's for me.I find speed of thought and speed of memory recall counter-productive nowadays and discover more inspiration in drift and dreamland.Go is almost too big to be a game - or five simultaneous games of chess as it's sometimes described. But I prefer Go to chess.  Chess just wears me out.  Whereas Go is less intense, less of a swordfight.  Involves a wider space and more choices.  More subtle to play especially if you're not an expert. The concept of in sente is almost a way of competitive life in itself.  How to respect and use momentum applies to all sports and many other stuff we do.  And I love the language of Go - phrases like Me ari me nashi...Backgammon can be a pretty game to play - up until you start gambling when the odds rule (unless you're happy to lose money) and it all gets boring.  But playing for matchsticks and getting into an odds-against back-game -  and then coming out the winner, is very satisfying.

Stuart Kerr ● 2043d

Agreed Stuart.  What I love about Go is that its structure and basic challenge - gain more territory than your opponent - is so simple and yet the complexity, depth and difficulty that arise seem infinite.  And when finally a computer programme, AlphaGo, was enabled to teach itself the game it managed to create entirely novel strategies in order to beat the human world champion.  Wonderful.  ‘Go’ has a lovely sound to it.  Chess rhymes with stress.

Alastair Banton ● 2043d