It is a fact that not many people out there are making money off of cubing, yet despite its other merits the hobby gets a bad rep in the general public for being unproductive.

Now in previous posts I have discussed possible solutions for how to dispel the misconceptions associated with cubers, like how cubers have to be smart or how we’re socially inept. It is definitely true that a large part of the whole “cubing isn’t a productive hobby” misconception has to due with these ideas, but since I have previously covered them I’m not going to be talking about that.

Rather, how can we solve the issue of parents not being supportive of their child’s pursuit of cubing?

This is a real issue in the community. After all, most cubers are on the younger side. It would be a scary site if one day we just have 13 year-olds, Rubik’s cube in hand, barreling down I-95 towards cubing competitions.

Just replace the lollipop with a Rubik’s cube.

Young cubers need parents. They need them to drive them to competitions to be active members of the community, they need their credit cards to buy cubes, and most importantly, they need their support in order to be able to practice in the first place.

So what can we do about this?

Cubers:

If you are a young cuber without the support of your parents, show them what they want to see. Growing up, my mom was always concerned with how much social time I was getting in. When I was younger a huge reason my parents drove me to competitions was the social aspect of cubing.

Actively advertise your friends. I have been to 3 US nationals (it’ll be 4 plus my first Worlds after this summer) and I have met countless people from all over the nation. If you’ve had the privilege of going to a nationals, name drop some one from a  different state to your parents. That will certainly impress them.

Maybe your parents value skills and academics. Show them how your improving your speed when solving. Show steady success at the competitions you go to. Show them that it is worth it for them to continue to allow you to hone your skills so that you can use those skills for applications for university or jobs later in life. I got into college because of an essay about cubing. I have a friend that got into Princeton from an essay on cubing. I know people who have gotten jobs because of cubing on their resumes. This is a real thing. I’d recommend checking out a seminar on writing cubing essays for college by Daniel Goodman.

If college is way in the future for you, maybe take advantage of your cubing skills in school now. Do projects on cubing. If your parents start to see A+s because of your knowledge of your hobby, they will enable your hobby.

Parents:

In general it’s a bit of a cop out to say “be a good parent.” Is there a such thing as spending too much time and money on hobbies like cubing? Yes. And it is definitely likely that at some point you will have to tell your son or daughter “no,” to a cube or competition they want to buy/go to. But it’s also your job to determine this from an educated perspective. Don’t just drop off your kids at competitions and sit in the corner. There is a community of cubing parents; some of the even start solving cubes themselves.

Join Cubing Moms and Dads on Facebook and learn about the community. Be involved in the speed solving success of your child by learning what it is that they’re doing and they, seeing your approval, will continue to delve deeper into the community. What starts off as solving a puzzle quickly becomes something to make lifelong friendships and open up real opportunities.

Most importantly, and I hopefully really don’t have to say this, if your child likes a hobby, support their interests.

Conclusion:

There is a large minority of parents that exist that don’t think cubing is a productive way to spend time. Cubing, in most cases, is a productive hobby. It is the job of a parent to learn about the community in order to support their child’s interests and learn when it it is appropriate to say “no,” and it is the job of the cuber to push their family members to recognize cubing’s benefits.

The bane of a cuber’s existence. The local news.

How to Solve a Rubik’s Cube in 9 Seconds! (a horribly inaccurate title as I can guarantee that there is no tutorial involved here) by Breakfast Television Vancouver

Nothing spreads misinformation about cubing more than false or inaccurate reporting on the hobby. As previously mentioned on this blog, news stories all too often portray cubing as an intelligence test. This severely discourages participation in the hobby. Not to mention that most reporters tend to not do there jobs and mess up basic cubing facts like world record times or cube types.

So I’ve driven the fact that cubing in media is toxic into the ground by now. We know it contributes to the misunderstanding of cubing. How do we solve it?

Cubers:

If you ever find yourself in a situation where you are being interviewed by the press, find a balance between being over-complicated and being patronizing. Of course answer the questions you are being asked, but make sure to elaborate further to provide clarity when necessary. Don’t go too far though, there’s no better way to reinforce inaccurate misconceptions of “intellectually elite” cubers like talking to them like they’re brain dead.

An example!

Q: So what’s the trick to solving the Rubik’s cube?

A (too elitist and/or patronizing): There’s no trick. Toddlers have learned how to solve a Rubik’s cube, just look it up online and memorize the algorithms for beginner’s method.

A (too complicated): I use a speed solving method called CFOP. I solve a cross, then do 3 steps called F2L, OLL, and PLL. From there it’s just a lot of practice to learn how to look ahead, recognize cases, and optimize finger tricks.

A (juuuuust right): Actually, I’d say that it’s a misconception that there is a trick to the Rubik’s cube. Just like any other skill it involves a lot a practice to get to the speed of the best speed solvers. But if you’re just looking to solve it regardless of speed, I’d say that you should start looking at the cube as 3 layers and not 6 sides. Solve it a layer at a time! There are plenty of tutorials online to help, that’s where all speed cubers start.

If you don’t go too in depth and don’t get too frustrated, answering these questions accurately can help build understanding of cubing!

Non-cubers:

This will be short. There isn’t much you can do when misinformation is presented to you as fact. My advice would be, generally, to stay skeptical and if your curious about a topic seek out a real cuber online. A great place to start is reddit, where communities are neatly organized with relevant posts easily accessible.

The media:

Do. Your. Job.

Please, please, please actually speak to a cuber. Don’t just do online research. Don’t just ask 3 questions and call it a day. A journalist learns about a community in order to “translate” that community to those outside of it. Learning about a community requires a genuine dialogue with multiple members of that community. Drop the whole interview/interviewee dynamic and ask because you’re curious. This is easily the best way learn about someone genuinely.

Watch how the experts do it!

Conclusion:

While the burden should fall on the journalist it ends up falling on the cubers while the non-cubers are the innocent bystanders. Here’s the good news: the more that cubers put in the effort to do a good job with interviews, the more good examples of cubing media will be available, and the more accurate article we will begin to see.

We can only hope!

Before I could make this blog post I had to google “what is my cousin’s grandpa in relation to me?” Fun fact, your cousin’s set of grandparents that are not your own are not related to you!

Anyway, I guess you could say that I am relived that I am not related to my cousin’s grandpa, because upon seeing him for the first time in a year he made a comment behind my back about my hobby. Upon seeing a cube in my hand, my sister informed me that he said something along the lines of, “Is he still doing that nerdy thing? Reminds me of Sheldon on the Big Bang Theory.”

Sheldon Cooper The Big Bang Theory

I can confirm that this was not intended as a compliment, nor did I receive it as one.

Sheldon Cooper is an unrealistic, socially incapable, geeky stereotype that cubers are all too often compared to.

So how should we go about dispelling the “cuber geek” stereotype?

Obviously overcoming this stereotype could help eliminate some hesitancy associated with getting into cubing for some non-cubers. This could do wonders to help minimize the understanding gap!

Cubers:

Stereotypes exist because of a lack of understanding. The most important thing to do when approaching someone with this type of belief is to not get angry or serious. Often times you just won’t be able to change these people’s minds, and that’s ok. The goal here is to inform the ones who are willing to listen.

The best way to combat the anti-social geek stereotype is to provide evidence that suggests an opposite reality. Tell them about the competitiveness of the sport, or your experiences meeting people in competitions. Introduce these people to the idea that maybe they don’t have the full story so they’ll be less quick to judge next time.

Non-cubers (but really everyone, this is not just about cubing):

Obviously it’s not very helpful to generally suggest being “open-minded” because honestly, what does that even mean.  I can say this: the more I’ve thought about the misjudgment of cubing, the more I have recognized that I do the same thing to other hobbies as well.

Be self-aware more than anything else. You don’t have to automatically think every hobby is great, but the next time you do think,”That’s weird, why would you waste your time with that?” ask yourself why you just thought that. Recognizing your lack of understanding will push you to learn more about that hobby so you can either confirm or refute your initial thought.

Conclusion:

You won’t change the mind of your cousin’s grandpa, but you can avoid becoming him. Recognize your dismissal of other people’s hobbies and vie to learn more about why those people do what they do.

When you discard initial uneducated judgments you can eliminate stereotypes that cause the understanding boundaries that we see in hobbies like cubing.