# "I've only solved that damned thing once and it took like three days"



## iggeman (Jun 8, 2011)

Has anyone heard this before by a 'non cuber'? I have.
Of course it's possible, but is it plausible that someone that don't know any algorithms or methods will solve a cube just by trial and error in a reasonable amount of time?

I wonder what I would do if I came across an OLL case for instance and didn't know any algorithms.

Every time I hear this I think "yeah right  ", but I let it slide. Don't want to be an ******* -.-


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## uberCuber (Jun 8, 2011)

cool story bro


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## AustinReed (Jun 8, 2011)

uberCuber said:


> cool story bro


 
+1


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## iggeman (Jun 8, 2011)

What's wrong my trolly friends?


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## Kirjava (Jun 8, 2011)

We have a "non cubers say dumb stuff" thread.

Anyhoo, hi.


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## ~Phoenix Death~ (Jun 8, 2011)

Inb4NonCubersSayTheDarndestThings


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## iggeman (Jun 8, 2011)

Didn't know that. Still, I wanted to have a discussion of whether or not it was plausible that someone could pull a Will Smith in the Pursuit of Happiness and actually just solve the cube.


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## Kirjava (Jun 8, 2011)

... how do you think the first methods were created?


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## iggeman (Jun 8, 2011)

Well not by you and me and in a few days or so.


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## Kirjava (Jun 8, 2011)

Minh Thai worked out how to solve it in 7 days on his own. I'm sure there has been faster.


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## uberCuber (Jun 8, 2011)

And in case you don't know who Minh Thai is, he officially held the WR for 20 ****ing years :3


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## Thompson (Jun 8, 2011)

I had a friend that figured out how to do the first side in just 4 days


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## thackernerd (Jun 8, 2011)

just?it took me 10 mins.


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## AustinReed (Jun 8, 2011)

Kirjava = K4 method.


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## qqwref (Jun 8, 2011)

It's certainly *possible*, but I'd say that it would require either serious planning or extreme luck. Unless you know that the person is good at logic/math/puzzles, it's much more likely that they are misremembering or lying to make themselves look good.


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## rokicki (Jun 8, 2011)

It took me about six months between the time I got the cube and the time I solved it for the first time.

I have to admit, it even took a while before I realized how methodical I had to be, that I had to get a
notebook and write some things down!

[Of course, I'm not sure how much of that six months was actually spent trying to solve it.]

If someone finished it in three hours, I'd have to say, they are probably a mathematician, or at least
have a very organized mind. Or they got very lucky (last layer skip?)

I still have some twisty puzzles I haven't worked out methods for (by hand). That's what keeps them
interesting for me.

I still pretty much refuse to use "methods" or algorithms that other people invent---and that's why
I'm not a speedsolver. I am in total awe of what you guys can do but I personally prefer the
"puzzle" part of it.

-tom


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## ZamHalen (Jun 8, 2011)

My aunt solved it by herself in 3 hours.
She does it sometimes but she now does it in a few sittings.


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## Jungleterrain (Jun 8, 2011)

Does solving a cube fast make someone a mathematician? Does solving a cube make someone smart?

I don't know the answer to these questions.


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## Ltsurge (Jun 8, 2011)

No and no!


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## Lucas Garron (Jun 8, 2011)

Jungleterrain said:


> Does solving a cube fast make someone a mathematician? Does solving a cube make someone smart?


No, and maybe. I've noticed that learning how to solve a cube tends to raise peoples' self-confidence in their abilities, though. So, in some sense, they tend to feel a bit smarter, or at least less afraid of things that require being "smart".


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## Zubon (Jun 8, 2011)

When I first got a cube, I solved the first two layers without many problems. But the last layer was too hard and I ended up looking up a solution. 
I am sure if I had known how to disassemble the cube and put it back to the solved position, I could have worked out some algorithms, but only starting with a scrambled cube made it too hard.


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## ElectricDoodie (Jun 8, 2011)

Thompson said:


> I had a friend that figured out how to do the first side in just 4 days


 
Are you joking? One side in 4 days? "Just" 4 days? That's pretty bad.

I figured out one side in 10 mins, and I still think that was slow. It then took me about 30-45 mins to figure out the Edges insertions. 
At the LL, I was completely stumped, and had to learn online.


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## Godmil (Jun 8, 2011)

Didn't Fridrich do it in only a few hours... just by already having a conceptual understanding of commutators.


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## cubeslayer (Jun 8, 2011)

I am acquainted with a respectable and intelligent young gentleman that solved the cube in eight hours without any hints, tutorials, or any other forms of "cheating".


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## Cubenovice (Jun 8, 2011)

Godmil said:


> Didn't Fridrich do it in only a few hours... just by already having a conceptual understanding of commutators.


 
No...

As told by Fridrich herself:
http://www.ws.binghamton.edu/fridrich/history.html#last


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## Owen (Jun 8, 2011)

I never even touched the thing until I learned online. I like to think that I could have solved it though.


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## Mr 005 (Jun 8, 2011)

A friend told me some of the things i had to do to get it solves but not how to do them and i also got stuck at ll. My 8 year old sister can handle solving the cross in about 5 minutes, and my dad can solve a whole side using his own method. it takes him about 10 minutes.


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## Gaétan Guimond (Jun 8, 2011)

Lucas Garron said:


> No, and maybe. I've noticed that learning how to solve a cube tends to raise peoples' self-confidence in their abilities, though. So, in some sense, they tend to feel a bit smarter, or at least less afraid of things that require being "smart".



100/100 a+


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## Godmil (Jun 8, 2011)

Cubenovice said:


> No...
> 
> As told by Fridrich herself:
> http://www.ws.binghamton.edu/fridrich/history.html#last


 
"With the help of the commutator principle and those "Russian" moves, I solved the cube for the first time. It took me several hours."

Well I was pretty close.


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## waffle=ijm (Jun 8, 2011)

Funny cuz OP assumed that Kir didn't invent a method when he did.


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## EMI (Jun 8, 2011)

My friend said this at school some time ago. I did not really believe him but it is possible...you can try out many different things and check the result until you get very long and slow, but working algorithms. When you have the ones you need you can solve it.


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## BC1997 (Jun 8, 2011)

Well I'd say its possible but if he/she only solved it once then he/she is probably lying.


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## Jungleterrain (Jun 8, 2011)

BC1997 said:


> Well I'd say its possible but if he/she only solved it once then he/she is probably lying.


 
Absolutely correct. Because once you solve it for the first time, it becomes impossible to solve it only once! It becomes addicting!


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