Game: The 500 piece Jigsaw

It took me around six hours to solve, and I have never learned formally how to solve the jigsaw. Jigsaws don't come with an instruction manual. This raises the topic of formal training vs self-learning.

Tell someone the rules of the game, but don't give any instructions on how to play it. i.e. in case of cricket don't tell him what in-swinging delivery is, in case of poker don't tell him what a "check-raise" is. Given enough time, the person can still learn how to play, but I believe the 99% of the people will only go so far. Its like discovering maths without knowing about the pythogoras theorem. I don't think the human lifespan is enough to re-discover the learning of generations of human existence in every field. Thus always learn the current state of knowledge in any field and go from there.

However I will do the bang opposite for jigsaw puzzles, and here are some of my techniques to solve the jigsaw
1. Separate the edges from the other pieces.
2. Take a piece, and find it on the picture, and place it accordingly.
3. While looking for a particular piece, work with patterns.
4. Concentrate on regions of the jigsaw, one at a time. Low hanging fruits first.

The debate on formal training vs self-learning is on. Ofcourse, it is not limited to sports, but applicable to life at large.

- MG