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!