"But how do you know you're done?"

[Stefan]

Occasionally when I talk with non-cubers about blindcubing, they ask "But how do you know you're done?". I find that quite irritating and I don't really have a good answer. How would I *not* know? It's like asking how do you know you're done writing an email, or asking a question, or tying your shoes. It's like they think I turn randomly and have to see when it happens to get solved... I don't get it.

Your thoughts about how to reply?

 

[tozies24]

You could explain your memorization method to them and then say that you know you are done because all of the pieces are in the right spot. You know where each piece needs to go, so you could say something like: " I memorized where each piece needed to go and I placed each of those pieces into the correct location on the cube. After I have I done that, then I know I am done because the cube should be solved."

 

[Sa967St]

"Because I went through and solved all the pieces, and there aren't any left unsolved"?

 

[MadeToReply]

you could just give them a boring 3 hour lecture on how you did it by making them regret on asking the question in the first place

 

[The Bloody Talon]

this will be my reply to them.

:fp

 

[shelley]

My favorite is when I get this question after I've given them a brief explanation of how blindfold solving works. At this point, as I'm giving them the "are you serious?" face, I'm sorely tempted to answer "I don't. I just turn randomly and hope I get lucky."

 

[aronpm]

"Oh, I just peek under the blindfold."

jk I have never been asked; if I had I would say because I memorize what I have to do to solve the cube, and once I've done that it should be solved.

 

[shelley]

Well, you don't really know you're done until you take the blindfold off and see the cube, I guess. There comes a point where you think you're done... but even the best BLDers still DNF sometimes.

 

[David Emms]

"It's a cheap blindfold... I can see right through it!"

 

[lucarubik]

that never happened to me but I would say I don't know I guess I'm a lucky man. Maybe I should buy lotery...

 

[Mal]

Just show them this thread.

 

[rahulkadukar]

Tell them that you memorize in such a way that you know where each piece is supposed to go, once you start solving you start removing them from memory (basically forget the piece), once you have nothing to do, it means it is solved

 

[Carrot]

"It's pretty simple, I have an invisible monkey sitting on my shoulder whispering to me when it's solved"

 

[Zane_C]

Ugh, I don't get this question often as I rarely cube around non-cubers.
However, whenever I do demonstrate a BLD solve in front of non-cubers - it seems almost inevitable that someone will ask "How do you know when you're done?"

Answer: "I plan out the entire solution before I start solving."

 

[Marcell]

Zane, while that's a very correct answer, I wouldn't use it because I like to emphesize that this question was a stupid one in the first place, and even though I don't mind telling stuff about the cube to interested people, I think it wouldn't hurt if they thought their questions through before asking. I do get this question every once in a while, and I usually respond with "If I didn't know when I'm done, how could I even solve it?"

 

[cmhardw]

Occasionally when I talk with non-cubers about blindcubing, they ask "But how do you know you're done?". I find that quite irritating and I don't really have a good answer.

I agree that I also find this question irritating, it shows that the person is not really thinking about what they're saying. As Shelley said, it's even more frustrating when they ask it after you've already explained how a BLD solve works.

How would I *not* know? It's like asking how do you know you're done writing an email, or asking a question, or tying your shoes.

Wow I really like this, I might actually try to work this into my answer for this question! (I'm serious!)

It's like they think I turn randomly and have to see when it happens to get solved... I don't get it.

I've had a non-cuber who was in my class, who saw me cubing and asked me about it, respond that "we (non-cubers) usually just turn stuff and hope that we start getting some more colors together". I think that non-cubers can't see beyond this mindset, and they probably just assume that cubers are just "better" at doing this. It would be as if they think a cuber is using a super fast version of "trial and error" every time. I don't know if this is true, and I am inferring here, but it would explain the "How do you know when you're done?" question.

Your thoughts about how to reply?

Just like the sticker response I always preempt this response. I know that 95% of the time I show speedcubing to a group that someone will make the sticker comment, so I make it first. I also know that probably around 95% of the time I either demonstrate or show blindsolving that someone will ask "How do you know when you're done?" so I explain usually something like:

"When I study the cube I'm not memorizing what it looks like, I actually have almost no idea of how the cube looks throughout most of the solve. What I'm memorizing is a list of directions that I must follow that will solve the cube. Once I get to the end of my list of directions, I have to be done, because there are no more directions to follow. At that point I put the cube down."

You will on rare occasion still get the "How do you know when you're done?" question even after saying that, but it happens much less often.

 

[evogler]

It's all about finding a very still, focused place within yourself. When your mind is quiet enough, the moves come to you, and you can _feel_ when you're done.

 

[insane569]

i say "i dont i just pray its solved"

 

[riffz]

I get this question all the time and it has always baffled me. I've never been able to give a very good answer. Even if they think that you have a mental image of how the cube looks at every turn during the solving phase, I still don't see how this could be a reasonable question to ask. As you adequately put, "How would I *not* know?"

"When I study the cube I'm not memorizing what it looks like, I actually have almost no idea of how the cube looks throughout most of the solve. What I'm memorizing is a list of directions that I must follow that will solve the cube. Once I get to the end of my list of directions, I have to be done, because there are no more directions to follow. At that point I put the cube down."

I like this explanation. I'll probably use it from now on.