Totally Cubular – Junior Trevor Mahoney participates in Rubik’s Cube competitions

15min

March 22, 2012

CONNER GORDON / PHOTO

While Junior Trevor Mahoney uses Rubik’s cubes dominantly for entertainment purposes, he said he also finds that they allow his mind to think at a higher level, not just with puzzles but in everyday life.

“I would definitely say my critical thinking has gotten better,“ Mahoney said. “I just feel as if its made me be able to think more clearly about things that involve problem solving.”

Mahoney’s increase in critical thinking skills is a common effect of activities like Rubik’s cubes. According to a study done by the Stockholm Brain Institute, puzzles and other mentally-challenging games like Rubik’s cubes can cause the neural systems in the brain to develop and grow, increasing a person’s ability to think critically.

Psychology teacher Peter O’Hara agreed with the study and said the effects of mind-bending games essentially arises from challenging the brains ability to think.

“Anytime you challenge yourself to a higher order of thinking we exercise the brain.“ O’Hara said. “Anything you do which challenges you to think at a higher level is worth it.”

O’Hara said he finds problem solving games to be a vital part of the learning process and even integrates them into activities he teaches in his class. According to O’Hara, without challenging the brain’s thinking levels through activities like Rubik’s cubes, the brain may not reach it’s highest capability.

“You want to reach your full potential as far as intelligence and thinking and everyone has a potential and you want to reach that potential,” O’Hara said. “If you don’t go out and practice various skills that work to think at a higher level, you may not reach that potential.”

Whether it be for fun or for an improvement in critical thinking ability, Mahoney said he urges more people to begin experimenting with Rubik’s cubes.

“Its not like it’s a very difficult thing. I think people need to get the idea out of their head that Rubik’s cubes are really difficult. Its not difficult to solve,” he said. “But it is very difficult to get fast at.”

w.gordon.rubiks.3.22 — CONNER GORDON / PHOTO

How did you begin competing?
I was bored one day, and I found my Rubik’s cube. I was just messing with it and got frustrated (with trying to figure it out), so I just looked up how to solve it. One day, I was just searching around on YouTube, and I found this one guy who was doing solves at a competition. Then I researched it, and I found that there was a competition in Fishers.

What are your greatest successes?
My best in competition solve is 14 seconds, but my best non-competition solve is 8 seconds. The way you determine how you beat someone is everyone does an average of 5 solves in a competition, and whoever has the lowest averages wins.

What’s the basic strategy to solve a Rubik’s cube?

You use a lot more intuition for more of the cube, and then you memorize only a few algorithms for the very last part.

Whats the hardest part of solving a cube?

I personally don’t get stuck anymore, but for beginners, the hardest part is the intuition part because they always want the set way to do it.

How often do you practice and for how long?

I usually practice about 30 minutes a day. Mostly working on getting my speed up.

What is the best way to improve speed?
Basically knowing exactly what your algorithms do, and working on turning (the cube) as fast as you can. And, also, pretty much like everything, practice makes perfect.

What are competitions like?

Competitions are a lot of fun. Its more so about meeting other people who Rubik’s cube. Its not really, necessarily, about doing well, its just about having fun. Ive never been to anything bigger than a state competition but there are also national competitions and also a world competition every once in a while.

What are your greatest successes in Rubik’s cubing?

My best in competition solve is 14 seconds but my best non-competition solve is a lot better, its 8 seconds. The way you determine how you beat someone is everyone does an average of 5 solves in competition, and whoever has the lowest averages wins.

What do you see in your future with Rubik’s cubes?

I see myself doing them more in the future but right now I’ve been focusing on school work. During the summer I’ll definitely be getting a lot faster. My goal by the end of the summer is to get below 10 seconds for an average.

What kinds of Rubik’s Cubes do you have?

I have at least 70. I have a 2 by 2 all the way up to an 8 by 8. I also have 12-sided cubes, and four-sided ones. Any shape you can think of, there’s a cube for it. There’s different ways of turning the different shapes of the Rubik’s cubes. There’s literally thousands of them. I’ve been cubing for about 3 years now, so I just order them occasionally from online stores.

Can you do any tricks?
I can do one hand solves and I have actually had one blindfold success, which is actually on YouTube. The way you do a blindfold is, you only need two algorithms to actually do it, but you basically assign letters to every sticker on the cube. Then you memorize in sequence where they are on the cube, and you pretty much make like a story out of that. Then when you put the blindfold on, you just repeat that story in your head so you know where to put all the pieces.

What are some common misconceptions people have about Rubik’s cubes?
I think that more people should be willing to try it. Honestly, when people see it they just think its impossible, but they really need to get the notion into their head that its not really that hard. It just takes a little bit of practice.

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Totally Cubular – Junior Trevor Mahoney participates in Rubik’s Cube competitions

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