Why are cubers so young?

[DaveyCow]

Didn't find this in a search so thought I'd start a thread.

Why do you think cubers are generally so young? I'd say (just from observation, no "real" statistics) that the average age of a cuber is 15-ish, though many of them seem to be 10 or 11. Why do you think this is? I have a few theories about this but wondering what others think...

Happy cubing.

 

[moralsh]

Because the Rubik's cube is a toy?

 

[JohanAR]

If guessing is allowed.. I think kids have much easier learning pattern recognition, algorithms and have better dexterity. Not saying that it's impossible to get good if you're older, it might just take more time and effort. And as you get older, it seems like you get less and less free time, so you really have to choose your hobbies. When I've tried to get coworkers and friends interested, they usually respond that they don't have enough time.

Another reason is probably that it's not something a lot of older people know about. If one kid starts cubing, he/she probably brings the cube to school and shows it off to classmates. Combine this with having time and interest to try new cool stuff..

 

[5BLD]

I think those even above the age of twelve probably cube for the sake of cubing itself, which increases as you get older. The young kids generally do it to impress their friends (a wild guess)and I'm not even sure if those very young kids even cube because they want to.

 

[Mikel]

I think it is something younger kids are more willing to try to figure out. My older relatives see my skill as something they could never do and never want to try. Younger kids also have a lot more time than middle-aged adults with full time jobs and families. I wish I would have started younger, but there wasn't really anything I could do. I had never even touched a Rubik's cube until I was 15. I was just never exposed to one. I had only seen them on TV. No one I knew owned one until my friend got me hooked in high school.

 

[LNZ]

My parents brought me a Rubik's Cube in 1981 when I was 11 years old. One of the reasons I think that it was sold as a "the hot toy you have to own" in a toy store.

In fact, that Rubkil's Cube was brought at Toy World, a bricks an mortar retail store.

Believe it or not, they're still around and some larger stores in major malls even sell Eastsheen 4x4 and 5x5 cubes as well as Rubik's brand 3x3, 4x4 and 5x5.

As soon as the Rubik's Cube craze ended in 1982, the toy stored moved on to the next "hot toy you have to own" and the cube was quickly relegated
to forgotten status.

And despite their kindness, I still could not solve it. That had to wait until May 2009.

 

[JHB]

When I started, Rubik's Cubes were made from stone

 

[cxinlee]

Toys r' us sells a lot of rubik's cubes

 

[Ninja Storm]

Also, younger kids have a ton more time. Think of it: a junior in high school, although we have a lot of work, probably have significantly less work than that of a junior in college. Therefore, there's more time for cubing.

 

[Bestsimple]

I think the main reason is the free time that younger kids and i believe cubing is one of those intriguing things just like programming.
Older people on the other hand have work as their main priority and don't see the point putting in so much effort to solve a toy much less pursue cubing as a hobby.

 

[Coolster01]

I, being a younger starter at the age of 9.5, can answer this question using my own story.

When I was 9 or almost 9, I tried solving using robh0629's tutorial. I did, but I could not memorize it. i did learn how to do the first 2 layers with beginners method without looking on youtube, but no algs.

Less than a year later, at the age of 9.5, I was really good at math (still am ). When I caught my eye on the cube, I realized "owaitasecond I'm so good at math, why cant I do this??" Before memorizing algs, I brought the cube to school and schowed my friends f2l and they called me a genius. So I memorized everything and impressed everybody in the entire 4th grade. They were my motivation, and I wanted to get faster so that I could impress them with speed. So I did. And I'm here now, although I am motivated by cubing communities like here, not my little child friends.

That's why cubers are so young. Their school friends motivate them, and if you don't go to school, you are not young, and you will not have motivation other than your family which is not nearly as many people.

 

[DavidCubie]

Because the Rubik's cube is a toy?

Best answer. Really.

 

[Dacuba]

Best answer. Really.

Do you know VSauce? There is a cool video differing toys from puzzles and games etc. It's called "Why do we play games?". Interesting stuff
According to this (They use actual sources) the Rubik's Cube is not a toy. Just adding this to this thread.

On topic: I personally think many younger kids do it to impress other kids. Others just get addicted, because kids get addicted to addictive stuff easily.

 

[sneaklyfox]

I think those even above the age of twelve probably cube for the sake of cubing itself, which increases as you get older. The young kids generally do it to impress their friends (a wild guess)and I'm not even sure if those very young kids even cube because they want to.

On topic: I personally think many younger kids do it to impress other kids. Others just get addicted, because kids get addicted to addictive stuff easily.

I guess back in the 80s I was one of those kids who did it "for the sake of cubing itself". Sure, it always attracted attention if I brought it on the school bus for field trips, and it felt nice to be popular for once (something I never was) but I loved the Rubik's Cube for itself. I wasn't big on socializing so I guess things like the cube (I read a lot of books too) were things I enjoyed and could help pass the time during boring bus rides. Maybe that's why now that I'm in my 30s I'm back to cubing seriously. It was never about impressing others.

 

[Escher]

There was a poll on SS maybe 2 years ago that showed of whom responded, the major age groups tended to be 16-18, 14-15, then 19-21, with the others falling after that, iirc. So I don't know about cubers being *that* young. 12 year olds do have the most free time ever though...

 

[qqwref]

Do you know VSauce? There is a cool video differing toys from puzzles and games etc. It's called "Why do we play games?". Interesting stuff
According to this (They use actual sources) the Rubik's Cube is not a toy.

Yeah. Sometimes I see very young children on youtube playing with it as a toy (just doing random turns and enjoying seeing it change), but it certainly isn't when we talk about more directed approaches to it, like trying to solve it or making patterns. I think it's really sad that this misconception is so prevalent in the media, because it's so condescending and insulting.


PS: From my experience on the forums and at competitions, very young cubers (under 12 or so, let's say) are actually pretty rare, just like serious older cubers (over 40 or so, let's say). I think they make a bigger impression just because the age impresses some people, so it looks like there are more of them than there actually are. I would think the typical age range is like Escher suggested, something like 14-22 (high school and college), with most of those people being almost completely unknown. You even see people show up in competition with pretty solid times (sub-15 2h, sub-25 OH, that kind of thing) without anyone about them, and they're almost all in that age range.

 

[applemobile]

Same reason most cubers are male. Magic, that's why.

 

[evogler]

Because it's inexpensive?
Because other young people do it?

 

[Eazoon]

Because the Rubik's cube is a toy?

"Computer game designer Chris Crawford attempted to define the term game[6] using a series of dichotomies:

Creative expression is art if made for its own beauty, and entertainment if made for money.
A piece of entertainment is a plaything if it is interactive. Movies and books are cited as examples of non-interactive entertainment.
If no goals are associated with a plaything, it is a toy. (Crawford notes that by his definition, (a) a toy can become a game element if the player makes up rules, and (b) The Sims and SimCity are toys, not games.) If it has goals, a plaything is a challenge.
If a challenge has no "active agent against whom you compete," it is a puzzle; if there is one, it is a conflict. (Crawford admits that this is a subjective test. Video games with noticeably algorithmic artificial intelligence can be played as puzzles; these include the patterns used to evade ghosts in Pac-Man.)
Finally, if the player can only outperform the opponent, but not attack them to interfere with their performance, the conflict is a competition. (Competitions include racing and figure skating.) However, if attacks are allowed, then the conflict qualifies as a game.

Crawford's definition may thus be rendered as: an interactive, goal-oriented activity, with active agents to play against, in which players (including active agents) can interfere with each other."

 

[Noahaha]

So we have a puzzle that we use in competitions then. Sounds about right.