A Brief Introduction

Undoubtably the background behind this blog will emerg over time as the number of posts increases.  However, an initial introduction seemed appropriate.

I first came across a Rubik's cube at the age of 6.  I was in 1st grade, attending a small Catholic primary school.  On this particular day I had finished my workbook exercise well ahead of time; my usual pattern.  My teacher was in a never ending search for something to occupy me with while my classmates continued to complete various tasks.  Ms Wales was the name of my teacher, and in her attempt to further occupy me on this occasion she handed me a traditional 3X3 Rubik's cube.

My teacher explained that I needed to have all of the colours on the same side as the other squares with the same colour.  As I held the cube I noticed that the various pieces seemed to move rather easily; I held grave concern for the safety of this apparently fragile toy.  Given how easily the pieces appeared to be moving, I was of the belief that any motion would instantly cause the cube to fall to pieces. 

Meticulously I set about removing each sticker being careful not damage the sticker or to accidentally cause the cube to break.  When I had lined the 54 stickers neatly along the edge of my desk, all neatly arranged in colour groups, I decided I was ready to carefully rearrange these on the actual cube.  Alas!  My teacher came to check on my progress with the infamous puzzle. 

Before I could even begin to understand why I had approached solving the puzzle this way my Ms Wales had raised her voice into a crescendo of shouts:  "Naughty!  That's very,very naughty!"  I was to spend that lunch hour on detention. 

It had occured to me while removing the stickers that this particular toy was rather stupid.  It didn't seem like much fun having to carefully remove and restick different coloured squares, all the time monitoring the fagility of the object.  This observation unfortunately was not enough to push me to request further information.

Of course, eventually my teacher did allow me to explain my reasons for embarking on a small career involving property damage.  There were no hard feelings, but once I understood the true workings of 'The Cube' I was hooked...

Through the years I have mastered solving this infamous puzzle in it's various sizes (3X3, 4X4 and 5X5).  I have explored the mathematics behind the solutions.  I have trained my muscular memory to solve most parts of the puzzle with closed eyes (after an initial glance).  I have spent hours fiddling with maths and motion to form patterns.  And, on top of my explorations of the cube I have collected cubes:  Cubes with patterns, cubes with numbers, wooden cubes, and plastic ones. 

My obsession is...

Around six months ago my passion and obsession with the old maths' professors toy reached a new level.  While exploring ways to help me understand emotion regulation and social situations a particularly insightful young psychologist decided these extraordinarily complex issues might be best explained to me by incorporating a special interest of mine. 

So many things can be explained using the principles of the Rubik's cube puzzle.  So join me while I take you on the journey of better understanding the world around you, your own emotions, and time management.

(c) Arlene Taylor 2010