There’s a reason you don’t really see Rubik’s Cubes all that much anymore. Despite cubing’s increased popularity, cubers prefer to keep their hobby behind closed doors. What does this mean for the hobby as a whole?

Do you know how to navigate around the streets of Barrow, Alaska without a GPS?

Barrow, Alaska

I’m at least 90% sure the answer is no for everybody reading this blog. Why?

Easy, you’ve never been to Barrow, Alaska!

We don’t understand something if we’re not exposed to it.

And the same concept applies to cubing. So with that said, what do I think is a possible solution to the issue of the lack of understanding of cubing with relation to cubing in public?

The Solution

Cubers: Cube in public more!!! I bet you didn’t see that coming, huh.

People purposefully avoid cubing in public for different reasons:

1. It’s awkward to them
2. They don’t like to be stared at
3. They hate having to answer questions
4. They feel like they’re coming off as just showing off

I don’t really have anything regarding 1, 2, and 4. If you really can’t get over those feelings, then you shouldn’t have to force yourself. But #3 is why I’m bringing this topic up in the first place.

Imagine cubing in public BECAUSE you want people to ask you questions. Taking it down a notch, what if you just were prepared to start a conversation with anyone you inquires about your hobby?

I will tell you what will start to happen if you’re willing and open to questions: We will start building understanding towards our hobby. We have to stop waiting for people to go to Barrow, Alaska and then wondering why they don’t understand Barrow. Let’s bring the Alaska to them!

The hesitancy cubers have towards cubing in public is limiting the exposure of the hobby to the general public, minimizing understanding of the hobby.

General public:

As far as the general public goes with this one, it’s not too hard of a job compared to forcing yourself into public situations.

Be curious.

If you see them out and about with a Rubik’s cube and you really are curious about what it is that they are doing or you just have general questions, you are not bothering cubers by asking.

Asking questions is a beneficial sign that people are genuinely interested in learning more about cubing, and will go a long way in bridging the gap in understanding that currently exists.

Conclusion:

So cubers, do be afraid to bring your cubes out. And everyone else, don’t be afraid to bring your questions out. If we eliminate the hesitations involved on both sides we may be surprised about how much we each learn and how much the hobby benefits as a whole.

In this blog’s very first post, Navigating Understanding Boundaries in Cubing, I clearly stated:

POP Culture is about the exploration of the understanding barrier, it is not about the solution to the understanding barrier.

Let’s ignore everything I said I wouldn’t do shall we!

POP Culture is a changed blog. If you’ve read of my past entries I am confident that you have at least a basic grasp of the understanding boundary between cubers and the general public. I’m sick of complaining about the problem!

From now on POP Culture will be diving into potential solutions to the aforementioned problem, with analysis of the merits and pitfalls certain approaches.

As with the former portion of this blog, the goal will still be to produce content that is…

1. Understandable and interesting to the general public

while…

2. Making the information presented engaging to an audience of cubers.

In fact this focus will be vital, as in attempting to create understanding between cubers and non-cubers we need both groups to be reading the same information. In this way, most topics discussed will be approached from both cuber’s and the public’s perspective.

Just to set your expectations let’s look at a tiny portion of a topic for practice.

The misconception that you have to be smart to solve a Rubik’s Cube:

Public:

If there’s one thing that a makes a cuber feel awkward it’s telling them they must be really smart. Cubers don’t know how to respond to that because it’s not true.

For this situation correlation does not equal causation. The reason why the trend may seem to exist is that academically oriented kids are more likely to be enticed by what is marketed (incorrectly) as an IQ toy in the first place. Basically, nerds happen to like Rubik’s cubes, not only nerds can solve Rubik’s cubes.

Stock photos can demonstrate just about any misconception.

Of course it’s completely fine to compliment them on their talent of course, here are some better ways:

• You’re fast
• That must have taken some practice
• That’s interesting

You get the idea. Cubers take pride in skill or practice more than intelligence.

Cubers:

If someone tells you, “wow you’re really smart,” make sure that you respond in a gracious, encouraging way. The goal is to stop misconceptions and get more people into the hobby. Always thank the person, they are complimenting you after all. Sometimes it can end here. You don’t always have to teach a lesson, you can just take the compliment and move on.

If you do have something to say, don’t make the other person feel dumb by going over the top. Don’t say, “you don’t have to be smart, a toddler can do it,” or something that makes the other person feel like they are dumber than a toddler (even if that’s not your intent that’s how it comes off).

Make sure to acknowledge the misconception first so the other person has a frame of reference. You can try phrases like:

• Actually you’d be surprised…
• It’s a misconception that it’s an IQ test…

Then encourage them! If they were so interested in seeing you solve they may be interested in learning themselves. I like giving people a frame of reference, telling them if they can memorize the alphabet (which is encouraging because they already have!) they can memorize how to solve a cube in a week. They may be more inclined to try now that they know the truth.

Conclusion:

If the public knows that cubing doesn’t have to do with intelligence it would be possible for them to connect and talk to cubers, and if cubers knew how to correctly respond to this statement they could help get more people at least interested in trying to learn a new skill. As far as feasibility goes, this fix is easy if we spread this knowledge!