Rubik's Cube Thread

[rushyrulz]

Originally Posted by DarkbearX

well aren't you just the best rubik's cube solving master of all time god damn

Originally Posted by JKPolk

In the future I'll make sure to babyproof all of my answers for you.

So am I a master or a baby? When you're giving instructions to someone who doesn't know how to solve a cube, you need to include the full algorithm or else they're gonna screw up. Sure you can use your logic for someone who already knows it, but if you're helping a beginner, you don't need to leave out any "implied" moves.

[qqwref]

lol, "implied moves"

[MrRubix]

lol

[TomatoShadow]

I do my 5x5x5 when I'm bored. Used to think it was impossible to solve and now I think it's boring. I want a 7x7x7 or something

I don't really understand why would people want to solve them faster though? I mean, I've solved the 3x3x3 until I could solve it easily but never even bothered to look how much time it takes me. Isn't the challenge supposed to be solving the cube rather than your performance at it?

Because I mean... I think it's much more satisfying to be able to understand how to solve and how works the cube rather than solving it quickly. So I like moving on to harder puzzles instead of just trying to do the easy one really fast. Am I the only one thinking that way?

[freekilltwo]

im content sticking with my slightly tweeked 7 step thats in the booklet that comes with them now, all i did to tweek it was teach myself to flip a few algorithms to work in reverse so i could do something like cycle a movement series twice instead of 4 times the other way my average is about 50 seconds or so with a best in the range of 41 seconds

[qqwref]

Originally Posted by TomatoShadow

I don't really understand why would people want to solve them faster though? I mean, I've solved the 3x3x3 until I could solve it easily but never even bothered to look how much time it takes me. Isn't the challenge supposed to be solving the cube rather than your performance at it?

I think for most people it's just about self-improvement, the same reason people continue to practice FFR or run or play chess. Sure, you can relatively easily reach the point where you can always solve it, but what if you get there and you're still interested? Then it makes the most sense to try to get better at it. Besides, there's a pretty big community of people who solve cubes quickly, and plenty of competitions, so at the higher levels it's not a lonely activity. Just solving it is only the first step into a very complex skill.

[MrRubix]

It ultimately becomes pretty boring though. Once you hit the low teens in speedsolving time, it's no longer as much fun because the faster solves are really the result of variance (i.e. "lucky solves" such as a really easy F2L or cross setup or OLL/PLL skip). After that, blindfold cubing adds an extra layer of challenge... but even that starts to get boring.

All in all, cubing is fun while you're in the midst of improving, but eventually it becomes a "been there, done that" sort of hobby. Even when you expand to other cube sizes, you realize it's really just the same puzzle, only more tedious/time-consuming.

But being able to take something relatively complex and solve it in a very short amount of time is fun in itself -- it looks cool, gives you some dexterity practice and tests your mental agility/pattern recognition/coordination, and is relatively inexpensive compared to other hobbies.

[Breakdown16]

Yeah this reminds me of more old hobbies I used to have. I recently entered my one and only cubing competition, did better than I should have (two lucky solves allowed me to get under 20). For me, it's exactly like FFR; my interest level fluctuates over years. I'm trying to learn one-handed but I'm stagnating at around high 40s to mid 50s which is not that fast, and I can't figure out how to improve.