> Playing Tetris, memorizing chess openings, or practicing Bach's Goldberg Variations is simply not going to help you become a better programmer. For that, you

> Playing Tetris, memorizing chess openings, or practicing Bach's Goldberg Variations is simply not going to help you become a better programmer. For that, you need to program. That's leaving out the benefits from practicing general problem solving skills, logical reasoning, analyzing design trade-offs, etc., though. You make it sound like programming is all about remembering where to put the semicolons! Meditation also seems to have positive cognitive effects, though they probably come from improved focus rather than intelligence.