We know Blaise Pascal as the inventor of Pascaline, the first mechanical calculator and we believe there is a story to every invention or discovery. The story behind the invention of the first mechanical calculator is quite simple. Pascal’s father was working as a tax collector in the French city of Rouen in the year 1642, and in order to help his father with the calculations, pascal developed the world’s first mechanical calculator.
A noble cause that left the windows of opportunity open for others, to take inspiration from the raw format of a mechanical calculator and advance its functions. That’s life, you need inspiration, and you can find them anywhere. From people, things or just words. One such quote by Blaise Pascal is ‘chess is the gymnasium of the mind’.
Elucidation
True to its core, chess is a game that requires a lot of mental engagement. It is said that in order to live a healthy life, you should have a healthy body and mind. Chess solves the purpose, it keeps your mind active and focused. Just like mitochondria is considered as the powerhouse of a cell, your mind is the powerhouse of the body and for an individual, it needs to be active throughout the day.
Playing chess can be called the gymnasium of the mind as, while playing chess, your mind is programmed to multitask and pick up positive things that will help you in the long run. Chess also improves cognitive abilities and help you learn basic life skills. It might be Decision-making or Quick thinking to Creative thinking, improving Concentration and Focus creating Self-awareness, coping with emotions, stress and building up a sportsman spirit are all important skills that a person needs to develop with time .
Chess as similar to Gyming
A more refined way to refer to that is, gyming keeps your mind healthy and enhances the blood flow to your brain, making it to work better. Similarly, playing chess is one such exercise that increases the blood flow to your mind. It is also considered a great exercise for both the sides of the brain. A research conducted by some German scientists reveals that to their surprise, both sides of the brain are operational while you play a game of chess. Though they expected that it would just be the left side of the brain. Another benefit of playing chess is that it grows dendrites in your brain. These are the benefits that chess has on the brain.
A person’s life is full of ups and downs. However, we can tone that down by trying and living a healthy life. Chess is also considered a very subtle distraction from the daily life. It is a leisure activity that pulls you away from the monotonous way of life, yet keeps you hearty and healthy. So, a game of chess would not improve your IQ but also resets your mood and keeps you going.