# Philosophy and/of the Rubik's Cube



## jdrumfro7 (Jan 2, 2010)

So, I've done a fair deal of philosophical dabbling and delving over the years, and I'm no expert or anything, but I know a bit. Now, I've not been a member of this forum for long, but between my own studies and reading on this site, I've found nothing philosophical that deals with the Rubik's Cube. Although it may seem as though it is too trivial or specific a thing to derive any sort of philosophical conjecture from, I feel as though their could perhaps be potential (Cubology?) 

Anyway, my question for all of you is: Has anyone experienced the "magic" cube in a philosophical way? I may be wasting my time, but please at least give me some thoughts. Thanks.


----------



## Zarxrax (Jan 2, 2010)

Life is like a Rubik's Cube. It's easy to screw it up, but it takes quite some work to fix it.


----------



## MichaelErskine (Jan 2, 2010)

jdrumfro7 said:


> So, I've done a fair deal of philosophical dabbling and delving over the years, and I'm no expert or anything, but I know a bit. Now, I've not been a member of this forum for long, but between my own studies and reading on this site, I've found nothing philosophical that deals with the Rubik's Cube. Although it may seem as though it is too trivial or specific a thing to derive any sort of philosophical conjecture from, I feel as though their could perhaps be potential (Cubology?)
> 
> Anyway, my question for all of you is: Has anyone experienced the "magic" cube in a philosophical way? I may be wasting my time, but please at least give me some thoughts. Thanks.



I don't know if this might enter into the realm of philosophy but one of my interests is the Rubik's cube as a modern social phenomenon and how with the boom of internet communications, groups of people have been able to share their ideas and, in the case of puzzle development and speedcubing, focus their endeavours on becoming more efficient and able to mentally explore ever more complex forms of puzzle. Within these groups we find etiquette, jargon, initiation rites, formal hierarchies, you name it. And the focus is a toy - how wonderful  We certainly live in an interesting world right now!


----------



## PEZenfuego (Jan 2, 2010)

Solving a problem in life is impossible without a good plan. Blindly making decisions may be helpful in finding a solution, but usually it just puts you further from your goal.

Solving a Rubik's Cube is impossible without a good plan. Blindly twisting and turning may be helpful in finding a solution, but usually it just puts you further from your goal.


----------



## gpt_kibutz (Jan 2, 2010)

msemtd said:


> ...we find etiquette, jargon, initiation rites, formal hierarchies, you name it. ...


Initiation rites? How's that?


----------



## Slowpoke22 (Jan 2, 2010)

I have a B.A. in philosophy, but I can't think of anything all that philosophical that only applies to cubing. :/


----------



## MichaelErskine (Jan 2, 2010)

luisgepeto said:


> msemtd said:
> 
> 
> > ...we find etiquette, jargon, initiation rites, formal hierarchies, you name it. ...
> ...



You won't know until you're initiated 

No, please excuse me, I can't actually identify anything specific but I was thinking about two things here: the formal competitions held by WCA and the acceptance in to a community (such as this one). I'm probably using the wrong terminology - I'm no philosopher or sociologist, just a person who muses about these things.


----------



## MichaelErskine (Jan 2, 2010)

Slowpoke22 said:


> I have a B.A. in philosophy, but I can't think of anything all that philosophical that only applies to cubing. :/



I've read the Wikipedia page on philosophy and I can't either 

Maybe aesthetics?


----------



## jdrumfro7 (Jan 2, 2010)

msemtd said:


> jdrumfro7 said:
> 
> 
> > So, I've done a fair deal of philosophical dabbling and delving over the years, and I'm no expert or anything, but I know a bit. Now, I've not been a member of this forum for long, but between my own studies and reading on this site, I've found nothing philosophical that deals with the Rubik's Cube. Although it may seem as though it is too trivial or specific a thing to derive any sort of philosophical conjecture from, I feel as though their could perhaps be potential (Cubology?)
> ...





That's certainly true that we live in an interesting world. I'd say that your thoughts seem primarily sociological, but have philosophical intent. I find that in our global society today, there is a bit of a paradoxical situation. 
Although the world is now "smaller" due to advanced communication technologies such as the internet and people from anywhere in the world can converse freely with anyone from anywhere else in the world, we grow somewhat farther apart socially in that much of our dealing with other humans is becoming more and more impersonal, therefore desensitizing us. 

But, that has nothing to do with the Rubik's Cube, lol.


----------



## LNZ (Jan 2, 2010)

I was lucky enough to be a pre teen (now called tween) when the cube became big in 1981. Yes, 1981 and 2010 cannot be compared as they can't. They were two completely different eras.

But 1981 and 2010 are worthy for how technology has way advanced since 1981. And how people solved the cube and what resources were around for people to solve the cube and the variety of cube and other puzzle products.

I own six 1981 cube solving books. All brought off Ebay. Some of these six books were intenational best sellers and competed well against other popular fiction and non-fiction books at the time.

The 1981 book "The Simple Solution To (3x3x3) Rubik's Cube" by James G. Norse is still the highest ever selling book to come from Bantam Books.


----------

