I spent a big chunk of time today working through a visual problem. It was one of those situations where a number of physical pieces needed to fit together in just the right way to make everything work.
And I realized two things: First, that this kind of problem solving is fundamentally different from other kinds of problem solving. It clearly uses a different part of the brain from, say, verbal reasoning.
Second, visual problem solving is just really really fun. There’s something wonderfully pleasurable about arranging things in 3D space and getting them just right.
I wonder whether our long ago ancestors had this much fun arranging things in the cave. I’ll bet they did.