Back in high school, I spent the better part of a weekend procrastinating writing a paper by learning to solve a Rubik’s cube. I’ve had one since elementary school, and had become pretty adept at breaking it apart, then rearranging the pieces to solve it (it’s a great use for those PCI brackets you tend to accumulate when you upgrade your PC). I had spent several months prior trying to learn by brute force how to solve it. I was able to get one side, but was stuck after that. So I spent two days teaching myself, using online tutorials. At some point I also wrote a terrible paper that earned a C. In the end, I think I made the right call.
The Secret
There is a great misconception that solving a Rubik’s Cube is only for geniuses: those so gifted they can quote economics textbooks in bars with a Boston accent. In reality, solving a Rubik’s cube is just like many skills. It requires you to memorize a lot of patterns and physical motions, but once you do, there is almost no mental effort involved. For me it’s roughly the same mental load as folding laundry, or as playing guitar would be to Eric Clapton. Except I’m not that good at folding my laundry.
The way I solve a Rubik’s cube follows this pattern:
1. Pick a side (I usually choose White) as the top. Solve it. This is the most mental effort needed.
2. Put the bottom corners in the right spots.
3. Make the bottom corners face the right way.
4. Make the bottom middle pieces face the right way and be in the right spots.
5. Make the middle-middle pieces be in the right spots.
6. Make the middle-middle pieces face the right way.
7. Done!
Teaching
There are several patterns of moves that can be used to accomplish any of the above. Some of them need to be repeated several times, and some might not be used at all. This isn’t the best algorithm, and it won’t win any world records. The main reason I chose it was because it allowed me to progress in a logical fashion. I learned the steps needed and now it’s all muscle memory and a few casual glances. I’ve made a few attempts to teach people how to solve Rubik’s cubes the way I do. I say attempt because nobody finished a single cube. They all realized they would have to memorize something and gave up. They had been looking for the “1 Easy Trick!” that would make it so the cube solved itself. For those looking for that trick, I repeat: a PCI bracket works wonders. You could probably also pry it apart with a flathead screwdriver. Just wedge it in between two pieces and twist.
Bigger Cubes
I’ve purchased several Rubik’s Cubes, including some which have four, five, and six cubes to a side. I’ve never learned to solve any of them. I’ve also never learned any faster algorithms, which would cut down on how much work I do, but would require me to learn ever more complicated patterns and moves. However, the easy algorithms I found follow a simple pattern: Solve the middle bits on each side and then treat them all as one big piece and move them together. Again, it’s far from the best or fastest solution, but it’s something you could certainly work towards.
The Lesson
There are numerous problems that at first appear to be very difficult to solve. Working in technology, I’m constantly exposed to bizarre behavior from machines that leaves me scratching my head, wondering how I’m going to Google the problem. In many cases, these problems crop up repeatedly. Too often I see clients, customers, and other IT people pull out the screwdriver to force an easy fix – it’s the easier answer. I’m even guilty of it. However, it’s foolish not to take a step back and say “Yes, it will be hard, but how can we learn to solve this for good?” They may appear to get you to the same end point, but only one is the right way to do things.
