From cube-lovers-errors@mc.lcs.mit.edu Wed Jul 29 13:55:23 1998 Return-Path: Received: from sun28.aic.nrl.navy.mil by mc.lcs.mit.edu (8.8.8/mc) with SMTP id NAA22336; Wed, 29 Jul 1998 13:55:23 -0400 (EDT) Precedence: bulk Errors-To: cube-lovers-errors@mc.lcs.mit.edu Mail-from: From cube-lovers-request@life.ai.mit.edu Tue Jul 28 12:10:01 1998 Message-Id: <002001bdba41$af584480$99118bc0@tellus.switchview.com> From: "Michael Swart" To: Subject: Re: Restoring a 5^3 to solved state Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1998 12:06:31 -0400 >A real cube meister will never disassemble his cube :) That's true but it is better than the alternative: the dreaded _sticker peeling_! I took a course in university called "Intro to Public Speaking". In it we had to give a persuasive speech and mine was Called "Why you shouldn't peel stickers of a Cube". Here are some of the reasons I gave. 1. The stickers weren't designed to be peeled. So until the people at 3M come out with a post-it note version of the cube, then peeling will only wear the cube out faster 2. Cheating defeats the purpose of the puzzle. It reduces it to a simple jigsaw puzzle. But if you find this simpler puzzle challenging - an unlikely scenario for cube-lovers - then by all means peel away. 3. Douglas R. Hofstadter once noted that there were two mysteries to the cube: 1. How does one solve the cube and 2. How does the cube stay together. If frustration gets the better of you and you must cheat then disassembling the cube is the preferred way because even though it does nothing to shed light on the first mystery it does give insight to the second mystery. Besides disassembling the cube and reassembling it don't cause (much) damage if you're careful. 4. Chances are greater that you'll leave the cube unsolvable. Kids in my grade school in the 80's used to peel stickers because they were so close to completing two sides that they resorted to peeling one or two stickers to get the job done. This behaviour inevitably left the cube unsolvable. If you disassemble a cube and then assemble it randomly, there is a 1 in 12 chance that you'll be able to solve the cube. But if you take all the stickers off a cube and restick them randomly, then you have a better chance at winning the lotto 6/49 twice in a row on your next two tickets, than your chances and getting a solvable cube. (I'll post my math if anyone asks) Michael Swart Switchview Inc. Michael.Swart@switchview.com