For those who don’t know, ‘speedsolving’ refers to the hobby of completing the classic Rubik’s cube as quickly as possible. The first speedsolving World Championship was held in 1982, but cubing’s popularity has really boomed in the last 10 or 15 years.
You may know how to solve a Rubik’s cube, but many readers won’t - it’s not that easy! But as I was thinking about it the other day, I realised that there are quite a few similarities between the cubing community and the Year 12 study community. What can we, as studiers, learn from this hobby? Stick with me!
There are lots of different ways to get the same result
Not all ‘cubers’ solve the Rubik’s cube in the same way. Some use various iterations of a so-called beginner’s method, where there are more moves involved, but fewer things to remember. More advanced solvers use any number of methods - I won’t bore you with the details, but these include methods like CFOP, Roux, ZZ, Petrus, and so on. There are lots of options.
What motivates different cubers to use different methods, then?
That’s a great question, and a lot of it simply comes down to personal preference. Some prefer methods that involve fewer algorithms - long sequences of moves to remember - whilst others prioritise methods where it’s easier to execute each move.
Should every single person use the exact same method? No - that would be absurd. We know that different people have different strengths, areas of development, and preferences - and they should choose a method accordingly.
The same is true for study, particularly in upper high school. There are countless ways you can learn and study the same content, and you should consider these - ideally before Year 12 - to work out what suits you best. Just because the dux of your school studied in a certain way the year before, that doesn’t mean you should study in the exact same way.
This article outlines a selection of different study techniques you can try, but it’s definitely not an exhaustive list. Don’t be afraid to get creative with your study methods!
Practice isn’t all about honing one skill, and nor is study
Feliks Zemdegs - an Australian, who is widely seen as the greatest speedcuber of all time - has advocated for a combination of “slow solving” and speedsolving in practice. What does that mean?
Slow solving refers to solving the cube very consciously, taking note of what you’re doing, and trying to implement new techniques - without the pressure of doing it as quickly as you possibly can. Long-term, the idea is that this will make you more efficient, more deliberate, and ultimately result in better outcomes.
Speedsolving means, as you might have guessed, simply trying to solve the cube as quickly as possible. It’s a chance to implement everything you have learnt in practice.
Analogies can be drawn with study in this respect. You’ll likely find that effective study involves a combination of both theory work (taking care to understand theories, formulae, question stems etc.) and application work (implementing the knowledge and skills you have gained in timed practice questions). The strategies focus on different skills, but both are needed to adequately prepare for end-of-year exams.
It’s best to focus on long-term goals
In both cubing and study, progress is very unlikely to be completely linear. For that reason, it’s best to focus on long-term progress rather than the everyday ups and downs.
In cubing, you might find that you steadily improve your times, then have a lapse for a little while, and then start to make progress again. Perhaps you forget an algorithm from time to time. Perhaps your results get worse and you just can’t work out why. But eventually, with persistence, things will turn and you’ll get back on track.
In study, things won’t go right all the time. You might really struggle to learn a particular concept, or spend three hours reading a chapter and still not really getting what it’s saying. That’s okay, and it’s all part of the process. Eventually, with persistence things will turn and you’ll get back on track.
Setting good goals is important for this, and you can read more about that here. There’s an important difference between “aims” and “goals”, and being clear with your goal-setting can have a big impact on motivation down the line.
A wholesome environment is really important
One of the best parts of the speedcubing scene, in my view, is that it’s unbelievably wholesome. Everybody is welcome, and everybody is encouraged. There’s very little toxicity, even though people are competing against one another in competition settings.
This has a couple of flow-on effects. Firstly, it builds a culture where everybody’s personal successes are celebrated. As you can imagine, that’s great for general morale, and also does wonders for removing aspects like jealousy and bitterness.
And secondly, it means everybody can learn from one another really organically. Ultimately, everybody wants to improve their times, in the same way that everybody wants to improve their marks. Each person will have different perspectives and methods at their disposal, and sharing these will, in the long-run, mean that everybody benefits.
I think that, if nothing else, that’s something we can take away from the speedcubing scene.
Happy studying!
