ABSTRACT
The game of chess has, actually, been the basis for many puzzles that provide a template for analyzing ludic thinking. Puzzles and games that involve placement, movement, or combination are miniature models of how the human mind perceives objects and actions in the world, attempting to glean from these game-playing artifacts, insights into the structure of things. Computer programs designed to simulate human intelligence are Cartesian machines, whereas animals and human infants are Craikian machines. Computer programs designed to simulate human intelligence are Cartesian machines, whereas animals and human infants are Craikian machines. But only human infants have the capacity to develop self-reflective consciousness through growth, which is autopoietic, capable of self-generation and self-maintenance. Originating at the dawn of civilization, puzzles are among the oldest products of human ingenuity. Puzzles provide models of how these three evolutionary figures participate with each other in producing human intelligence, knowledge, and culture.
