A.J. Jacobs and his descendants are now the owners of the world's hardest puzzle. Created by Dutch puzzle creator Oskar van Deventer, the puzzle christened "Jacob's Ladder" is virtually unsolvable, and I mean fall-into-a-pit-of-madness-that-will-outlast-the-physical-world unsolvable.
In an article he wrote for The Atlantic, Jacobs describes the puzzle as:
...a cross between a Jenga tower, a giant corkscrew, and a girder from a skyscraper. The puzzle's main wooden column was covered top to bottom with 55 interlocking wooden pegs, which together trapped a black corkscrew rod inside. The goal was to turn the pegs in the proper order to remove the rod. But the catch was that you have to turn the pegs many, many, many, many times.
How many times is many times you ask?
Try 1.2 decillion turns (the number 1 followed by 33 digits).
If you were to turn one peg per second, the puzzle would take 40 septillion years; that's a 1 followed by 42 zeros.
By the time you solved it, the sun would have long ago destroyed the Earth and burned out. In fact, all light in the universe would have been extinguished. Only black holes would remain.
An even more maddening thought is that according to van Deventer,
If only one atom were to rub off due to friction for each move, it would erode before you could solve it.
So, why would anyone want to own this Sisyphean torture device?
Jacobs explains that the Chinese have a similar puzzle called a "ring puzzle" that takes generations to solve.
You're supposed to pass them on to your kids, who pass them on to their kids, who pass them on to their kids, and on and on.
I love this idea—the ambitious scope, the connection to my descendants. I've always wanted an heirloom that I can hand to my sons on my deathbed.
Of course, the difference is that the Chinese ring puzzles actually will be able to be solved at some point. The exasperating heirloom that is Jacob's Ladder will never end.
Can you imagine the itineraries for Jacobs family reunions?
When Jacobs set the monstrosity before his immediate family, so they could gaze into the infinite abyss and begin the unending process of never solving the puzzle, his youngest son rolled his eyes, which gives a hint about where the puzzle will end up in the next generation.
Personally, I'd solve the thing Alexander the Great style and be done with it.
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