Rubik's cube

Fremen

Opinions wanted:

Is it cheating to read a guide on how to solve a rubik's cube, or given the difficulty of the puzzle, is it justified?

rotinaj

Yes

themadchef

I thought the whole point of it was challenge?

If you get a guide on how to "do it", learn the technique, then im guessing youre doing it to impress someone.

Wouldint use the word cheating..would use the word pointless.



* This from a person who couldint complete one side

Mellor

It depends.
When you buy it, it comes with some sort of guide. If you can't do it, its only human nature to look at the guide.
But, if you do this you can't claim you solved it. And if you o then its cheating.

I figured out how to solve it on my own. Using my own sequences. In a layer method. Since them, I have seen other ways to do it and have swapped these in. (My cube broke last week after a few years of abusive solving)

Malice

Fremen wrote: »

Is it cheating to read a guide on how to solve a rubik's cube, or given the difficulty of the puzzle, is it justified?

d3mon24 wrote: »

Yes

That's a great answer d3mon24....

@Fremen, I reckon you need to think about whether it would ruin the fun of actually solving the thing on your own. There's not going to be much of a sense of accomplishment in solving it by following a guide compared to working it out yourself. Personally I'd just follow the guide because I know I don't have the patience to solve it normally .

Trippie

Mellor wrote: »

It depends.
When you buy it, it comes with some sort of guide. If you can't do it, its only human nature to look at the guide.
But, if you do this you can't claim you solved it. And if you o then its cheating.

I figured out how to solve it on my own. Using my own sequences. In a layer method. Since them, I have seen other ways to do it and have swapped these in. (My cube broke last week after a few years of abusive solving)

I still have to give you a look at the cube I have. It should keep you busy during the cash league final if you're there

ROXcursed

Of course it is dishonest to claim to have solved it yourself if you looked up a guide.

However, as an experienced cuber with an average of 50 second solves, I can say confidently it is not cheating. Even with my comprehensive understanding of the cube, it would take me hours to solve it from scratch with no method or technique.

If you know anything about speedcubing, you'll know the super fast guys learn dozens of algorithms to maximise efficiency.

So there...

galactus

malice_ wrote: »

That's a great answer d3mon24....

@Fremen, I reckon you need to think about whether it would ruin the fun of actually solving the thing on your own. There's not going to be much of a sense of accomplishment in solving it by following a guide compared to working it out yourself. Personally I'd just follow the guide because I know I don't have the patience to solve it normally .

It could be argued that by your thinking every chess and bridge player is a cheat...

Hagar

They are the work of the devil. I got so frustrated with mine that I peeled all the little coloured stickers off then put them back where they should be. Afterwards I put it up in the attic with the other stuff I never want to see again but can't bring myself to throw out.

samhail

i was on the late shift in australia at one stage and bored outta my tree - so just spent hours (while working !:)) figuring it out.

see the things u can do when u put ur mind to it

have to try it again see if i forget it all

hivizman

Like other people, I stumbled across most of the standard algorithms for getting cubes into given relative positions by trial and error during several days of playing with the Cube. Following the solution instructions is quite hard enough, and I see the process as more like following the instructions in making an Airfix model than trying to work out what to do without following the instructions. It's not cheating in the sense of looking up the answer in the back of the book - we know what the "answer" is, just not how to get there.

Once you've become proficient in solving the basic problem, then it's fun to try to construct various patterns (such as cubes made up of faces of one colour with a constrasting colour in the centre square). Knowing the basic algorithms and your own personalised short cuts is very helpful here.

samhail

i have to admit i cheated.
i looked at the bideo of it online.
only about 1000 times - ive nearly got it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHZ9fsusMGc

Malice

galactus wrote: »

It could be argued that by your thinking every chess and bridge player is a cheat...

Sure, because every chess game only features one player and you can follow a guide to play from start to finish that will guarantee you a win every time...

Admittedly I've never played Bridge so maybe your analogy applies to that game but it certainly doesn't apply to Chess.

galactus

malice_ wrote: »

Sure, because every chess game only features one player and you can follow a guide to play from start to finish that will guarantee you a win every time...

Admittedly I've never played Bridge so maybe your analogy applies to that game but it certainly doesn't apply to Chess.

I was drawing an analogy between Opening Theory in chess and solving the cube using a guide. Maybe a bad analogy but "booking up" in chess definitely gives you a big advantage.

Anyway, fado, fado I remember using a guide to solve the cube... and then taking it apart and greasing the insides with vaseline to speed up solving time. Ah, happy days!

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

Malice

galactus wrote: »

I was drawing an analogy between Opening Theory in chess and solving the cube using a guide. Maybe a bad analogy but "booking up" in chess definitely gives you a big advantage.

But "opening theory" is exactly that - it only deals with the opening of the game. It would be a bit like getting one side of the Rubik's Cube all one colour .

galactus

malice_ wrote: »

But "opening theory" is exactly that - it only deals with the opening of the game. It would be a bit like getting one side of the Rubik's Cube all one colour .

OK its a bad analogy by me...but yours is worse!