During the Covid-19, we are forced to be in quarantine or lockdown. We cannot go to shopping malls, visit cinemas, eat in a fine dining restaurant every weekend, and freely explore the top destinations on our bucket list.
While we cannot do our usual routine and common source of entertainment, we find new ways to beat our boredom. Some watch movies on popular streaming sites like Netflix, while others engage in gardening. A few also read their favorite novels. Some spend quality time with their family.
But you may find a repetitive routine boring and dull. Are there other ways to stay productive? Of course! Rubik’s Cube has been famous for a reason.
But who invented Rubik’s Cube, and what makes it famous among people of all ages? Read on for more!
A Brief History About Rubik’s Cube
Released initially as Magic Cube in 1977, it was introduced into the American market as Rubik’s Cube.
“In 1980, I joined the International Toy Fair in New York, which marked the beginning of Rubik’s Cube in the US. I could not believe it would gain immense popularity in America. But within a short time, it created noise in New York and other parts of the continents,” inventor and architect Erno Rubik said.
“Throughout the decades, the six-sided and multicolored object caught people’s attention and interest regardless of nationality, education, and age. Kids, teens, and even adults have started playing Rubik’s Cube. They shared it with their families, closest friends, colleagues, and even neighbors,” he added.
“My invention is also often referred to as the Rubik Cube of the Wider Middle East of economic policies and even health care. It was surprising for me at the time. With Covid-19, enthusiasts began dubbing it as the Rubik’s Cube of pandemics,” he said.
“While the Rubik cannot address what we are facing at the moment, it helps us frame the challenge the virus poses.”
Rubik’s Cube – A Real Challenge for Players
Probably, you have seen a Rubik’s Cube and jumbled the colors. Then, you tried to bring its order back. How was the experience? It is complicated, isn’t it?
“A jumbled cube can elicit anxiety, frustration, anger, and other negative feelings. With everything we went thru in 2020 (Australian bushfires, Covid-19, Black Lives Matter protests, Beirut explosion, and West Coat wildfires), we are like trapped in a Rubik’s Cube.”
It is Easier to Solve than What Everyone Imagines
“As an architect and inventor of the Rubik’s Cube, solving it is not impossible.” Before anything else, you should know terms, including edge, corner, center, layer, faces, inverted/regular turn, algorithm, and permutation.
Edge is the part of Rubik’s Cube where two colors meet. A corner piece is located in the corner of every side of the Rubik’s Cube. The center cube is located in the center of every side. It has one color.
A layer is the part of the Cube you usually turn. It consists of nine blocks. Rubik’s Cube also has six faces, commonly known as sides, including the right face, left face, down face, up face, back face, front face, entire Cube, and middle face.
To turn a layer, you will commonly encounter inverted or regular. What are they? Inverted is a counterclockwise turn, while regular is a clockwise turn.
How about the algorithm? It is a series of rotations or operations that reorients every block into a preferred outcome.
Permutation, on the contrary, is the process of moving all blocks into the arrangement or formation of all pieces that every player prefers.
Now that you have learned basic terms, you are ready to solve a Rubik’s Cube, and there are different strategies to follow. You can create a white cross, solve white corners, solve the middle layer, create a yellow cross, swap every yellow edge in the top layer, position all yellow corners, and solve the remaining layer corners. That’s it!
But it is easier said than done. It takes a lot of time, patience, commitment, and practice before one can return a Rubik’s Cube to its original position.
But all your efforts will pay off. “It encourages curiosity, openness, and intellectual honesty. It boosts perseverance and focus, too. It punishes impatience and prejudice. There are no hidden agendas that will take you to the best solution. The Cube’s message is about the success of human cleverness over the utmost complexity.”
“Understanding and solving unnerving problems is not for all. It requires a high level of tolerance and resolve for every failure a person will encounter along the way. While other players can solve a Rubik’s Cube within a few seconds, as we have seen on Speed Cubers (a documentary on the lives of speedcubing champions Feliks Zemdegs and Max Park) on Netflix, other people took a long time before they unscramble their first Cube. In my case, I waited for a month before I finally did it. My countless attempts and failures are still worth it.”
Anyone Can Learn To Solve the Cube
“No matter how daunting and overwhelming the Rubik’s Cube looks, anyone can achieve the impossible. With algorithms and strategies from other players, the chance of bringing home the bacon is higher than expected. Before, it wasn’t easy to find a piece of informative and comprehensive information. Things are different in this 21st century. With a touch of a button and the power of the internet, everything is convenient.”
Aside from books online, YouTube is a perfect platform every aspiring cuber can take advantage of and use. There are step-by-step, practical, and easy-to-understand tutorials for you. But nothing can beat the assistance of a friend.
“2020 is one of the most challenging years we have witnessed so far. A lot of predicaments happened. Apart from the bushfires in Australia and Beirut explosion, the Covid-19 has affected billions of people. But like the Cube, finding innovative and grand-scale solutions requires attention to detail and open discourse. It also takes bravery to depend on our resourceful minds in the midst of a pandemic and other predicaments in the future.”
