Things are faster, and that sometimes means better. But with speed, people also lose something they need — the ability to sit, and think
When Rubik invented his cube, Hungary — his home country — was behind the Iron Curtain.
The first time Ernö Rubik “solved” what would go on to become his Magic Cube, the world was a very different place. In 1974, Rubik — an architect and teacher — put together 20 smaller cubes to create a larger one, with eight corners and 12 edges. It was months before the inventor could ensure that six sides of it were uniform in colour — the goal of the puzzle. Fifty years later, the world record to solve a Rubik’s Cube is 3.3 seconds. And that’s not all that’s changed.
When Rubik invented his cube, Hungary — his home country — was behind the Iron Curtain. There was no internet then, no “influencers”, to make a puzzle go viral. When it was finally picked up for the capitalist world, it was hugely popular. Over the last five decades, millions have tried and failed, and tried again to solve it. The achievement of finally figuring out the colours, though, required time, patience and long attention spans. No wonder, then, that Rubik’s Cube has been hacked now, its mystery and romance gone. Just put in “how to solve a Rubik’s Cube in under 10 minutes” in the search engine or Large Language Model of your choice, and voila! Almost everyone can do in minutes now what once took most people hours, if not days.
Now competitive and automated, the Rubik’s Cube is perhaps an apt metaphor of all that has been lost and gained since 1974. Things are faster, and that sometimes means better. But with speed, people also lose something they need — the ability to sit, think and take something magical, a cube made of different coloured cubes, for example, and find out how it works. Now, a machine with more computing power than the smartest human can do it in seconds. Still, for those who want it, there’s always a quiet moment to try to match Rubik’s pace in solving his invention. The joy, after all, isn’t in only finding the solution.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
First uploaded on: 05-07-2024 at 07:00 IST
