Oklahoma City, OK
Rubix cube fans, let's hear your story. Can you solve a cube puzzle? How good are you? How'd you learn? Or have you tried and failed?
I decided to learn after I scrambled and couldn't solve a picture cube at a relatives house a few years ago. I watched and copied the moves on a YouTube video and finally solved it after 3-4 hours of total frustration.
I can now solve it in about 2 minutes most of the time. I don't (didn't) know a single person that could solve it. My friends and family and co-workers are all suitably impressed and I try to get as many people as I can interested in cube puzzles, like I do pinball. Most everyone in my office plays with the one I keep on my desk and they all want to watch me solve it. I rotate it out frequently with different ones to keep the interest level high.
Then a year ago I visited a cousin of mine and surprise, surprise he could solve it too. But he could do it in half my time, 45-60 seconds was his average! I asked his secret and he said "algs" which is geek speak for algorithms. I've still not met anyone else that can.
Do you want to learn to solve one yourself? Here's the secret, there are over 100+ algorithms which can be memorized and utilized to solve a Rubix cube. An alg is just a series of turns you perform in order. The best cubers out there might memorize something like 57 of the most popular moves in order to get super fast! I though know only about 7 algorithms, so a ton of memorization isn't needed to be successful, just practice. After a while it will become muscle memory, like tying your shoes.
There's so much more to the subject, hope someone chimes in!
And I'm going to add a poll, two questions in one, it should work out...
