# What's Wrong With This Magazine Cover?



## Me Myself & Pi (Jul 8, 2009)

Why did this magazine use an unsolvable cube to illustrate government health care? Coincidence?


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## qqwref (Jul 8, 2009)

I think it's no coincidence. The health care problem really is unsolvable, unless you take the stickers off!


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## shoot1510 (Jul 8, 2009)

It about the *SWINE FLU!*!


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## Escher (Jul 8, 2009)

Sheesh, get over it and just pay for it with a higher taxes  

[/purposefully provocative statement]


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## Ethan Rosen (Jul 8, 2009)

I think it is a coincidence. The average person would have no clue that it is unsolvable. Obviously the fact that the cube isn't solved isn't a coincidence though. I think that to an average person, this cube would appear to be almost solved, so I think the ad is saying that it will be hard, but we're on the final stretch of the healthcare debate.


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## brunson (Jul 8, 2009)

It's not that we'd even need higher taxes, we just need to get rid of insurance executives with $124,000,000 a year salaries and all the bureaucracy that does along with them.


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## byu (Jul 8, 2009)

They just have no idea that it's unsolvable. Someone probably just decided to make it almost solved in photoshop. I'm sure that it would be surprising to them if we told them that it's unsolvable.


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## Me Myself & Pi (Jul 8, 2009)

Ethan, I see what you are saying, but appearances can be deceiving. Just like this cube, it could appear that the problem of health care is on the verge of being solved. However, in reality it's an unsolvable problem, just like this cube.


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## Ethan Rosen (Jul 8, 2009)

Yes, but considering the general public seems to believe that the cube is composed of 54 stickers that can be moved anywhere on the cube, I really doubt that's what this ad was going for (unless this ad was just going to be posted on cubing sites  ) .


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## shelley (Jul 9, 2009)

We only see four colors on this cube. How do we know that there are six?


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## JTW2007 (Jul 9, 2009)

shelley said:


> We only see four colors on this cube. How do we know that there are six?



True. It would be possible then, no?


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## miniGOINGS (Jul 9, 2009)

It looks pretty unsolvable to me.


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## rahulkadukar (Jul 9, 2009)

Maybe the designer knew that it would be unsolvable but I believe that the non solver would never be able to figure that out


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## miniGOINGS (Jul 9, 2009)

If I didn't know that the centers don't ever change colour (which I knew before I cubed) I would have no idea that it is unsolvable.


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## Ton (Jul 9, 2009)

shelley said:


> We only see four colors on this cube. How do we know that there are six?



Good point, if the cube was 

White Front
Green Right , Left 
yellow Bottom , back
Top orange 

It would be solvable


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## panyan (Jul 9, 2009)

Ethan Rosen said:


> I think it is a coincidence. The average person would have no clue that it is unsolvable.



+1 i agree, they wouldnt know it wasnt solvable


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## Stefan (Jul 9, 2009)

Thanks Shelley for the brilliant discovery and Ton for the explanation (before that I didn't see the impact of Shelleys comment).


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## AvGalen (Jul 9, 2009)

I get the feeling this cube will actually be solvableand actually does exist for real. The images seem to follow themes and when such attention it is likely that it actually exists


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## Mike Hughey (Jul 9, 2009)

I think it's interesting that we don't really know whether its solvable or not. That makes it a really good analogy to the problem. We don't have enough information to know whether it can be solved or not.


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## krnballerzzz (Jul 9, 2009)

The way to solve the world's problems is to solve a Rubik's Cube.

I KNEW IT ALL ALONG!


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## TomZ (Jul 10, 2009)

I would say it's solvable and unsolvable.


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## ShadenSmith (Jul 10, 2009)

I think this is a great analogy. Who knows what will become of our health system?


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## qqwref (Jul 10, 2009)

ShadenSmith said:


> I think this is a great analogy. Who knows what will become of our health system?



I think an Asian guy will come along and solve it in 8.72 seconds.

Twice.


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## AvGalen (Jul 15, 2009)

qqwref said:


> ShadenSmith said:
> 
> 
> > I think this is a great analogy. Who knows what will become of our health system?
> ...


And after that you switch to the Dutch system


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## Boxcarcrzy12 (Jul 27, 2009)

wrong color sceme


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## coolmission (Jul 31, 2009)

Boxcarcrzy12 said:


> wrong color sceme



There is no "wrong" color scheme.


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## d_sprink (Aug 9, 2009)

Ethan Rosen said:


> I think it is a coincidence. The average person would have no clue that it is unsolvable. Obviously the fact that the cube isn't solved isn't a coincidence though. I think that to an average person, this cube would appear to be almost solved, so I think the ad is saying that it will be hard, but we're on the final stretch of the healthcare debate.



I think you give yourself too much credit. I'm sure there are plenty of "average people" that would see it's unsolvable. It looks like nothing you really see on a real cube.


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## ConnorCuber (Aug 9, 2009)

d_sprink said:


> Ethan Rosen said:
> 
> 
> > I think it is a coincidence. The average person would have no clue that it is unsolvable. Obviously the fact that the cube isn't solved isn't a coincidence though. I think that to an average person, this cube would appear to be almost solved, so I think the ad is saying that it will be hard, but we're on the final stretch of the healthcare debate.
> ...



I highly doubt they would. Most people seem to think that any sticker can be moved anywhere on a cube, without affecting other pieces.


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## Carson (Aug 9, 2009)

My guess is that the stickers were custom made just for the cube to appear on the cover, therefore, the 3 non-visible sides probably aren't even stickered.


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## oneofthosedudes (Aug 9, 2009)

i saw that magazine somewhere too. i don't think the average person was meant to know it was unsolvable, because most people wouldn't know the difference between a solvable case and an unsolvable case, and the people that are in charge of the magazine are very aware of that.

it can't be just a different color scheme, because the other edges and corners don't follow it. 

and i doubt this even matters remotely, but it looks like the U center and UR edge were meant to be switched with the center and UL edge that are not visible, kinda like a J perm on the E slice. i just felt like pointing that out.. XD


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## how-to-solve-a-rubix (Aug 18, 2009)

for everyone`s sake i hope they can solve it blind folding within less than a minute


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## krazedkat (Aug 19, 2009)

Its unsolvable ... I seriously wonder if the editor knows...


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## Kirjava (Aug 19, 2009)

OMG IT'S SCHRÖDINGER'S CUBE


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