Blog #5

Blog #5

This week, I chose to read an article about the Rubik's cube. This past summer, I learned how to solve one of these puzzles and it instantly became a hobby. I was solving it a few days ago and I realized that in order for all six faces to spin, there had to be a center within the cube. So I pulled off some of the blocks and sure enough, there was a central core much more complex than I had anticipated. I realized that someone had to have thought of the toy and had to have figured out a way to make each color move independently without falling apart. I went online and read an article about the history and creator of the Rubik's cube. The inventor had a quote that I liked.
"It was wonderful, to see how, after only a few turns, the colors became mixed, apparently in random fashion. It was tremendously satisfying to watch this color parade. Like after a nice walk when you have seen many lovely sights you decide to go home, after a while I decided it was time to go home, let us put the cubes back in order. And it was at that moment that I came face to face with the Big Challenge: What is the way home?" - Erno Rubik. As you get pulled into the cube, the colors start to inhabit your mind and take over your senses so that all you want to do is see them match.

When I first started solving my cube, it would take up all my concentration. It completely cleared my mind of other distractions. As I got better, my time decreased. I started to time myself, but whenever I would turn on the timer, or sit in front of a parent and ask them to time me, my hands would move slower than they usually did. This made me wonder if this happened to everyone. If people never got to see others' absolute best performances because they could only do as well when completely alone. Although this doesn't have much to do with my reading, the text sparked my thoughts about my own experiences and led me to believe that we have a sense of others' presence that makes us more aware of our own actions.

Bellis, Mary. The History Of The Rubik's Cube- Erno Rubik. n.d. 14 Oct. 2008 <http://inventors.about.com/od/rstartinventions/a/Rubik_Cube.htm>;.