Is Speecubing educational?

[CubeX]

hey guys

i am just wondering if speedcubing is educational?

Last time i got kicked off the computer at school (library) because i was on this forum...

I mean what the hell man...

Crazy librarians!

 

[JTW2007]

Absolutely. It is educational, but, it is not academic. It does expand your pattern recognition and creative problem solving skills, but those generally aren't highly valued in education (at least at my level). I would say that cubing is absolutely beneficial to critical thinking, etc. but it isn't considered valuable from an academic standpoint, which is why you were kicked off the computer.

For the record: I would've kicked you off too, because being on a forum about speedcubing and actually speedcubing, are two different things when it comes to mental stimulation.

 

[a small kitten]

It depends on how you and your school define educational.

 

[wing92]

i got a 35 on my ACTs and i think cubing had a hand in that. i don't know how but when i took a practice test before i cubed i think i got a 27

 

[miniGOINGS]

Well, my IQ went up from cubing, I had a 106 (for my age) and now I'm ranked at 159 (for my age), which probably has a lot to do with cubing. My general IQ rank is at 132 now, which is in the top 2 percent of the population, and it used to be 124. It mostly helped with pattern recognition and perceptualism.

 

[a small kitten]

Isn't that slightly off topic? IQ has little to do with education.

 

[miniGOINGS]

Isn't that slightly off topic? IQ has little to do with education.

Good point, but the pattern recognition and perceptualism that I gained from cubing (which effected my IQ) I have been able to apply to maths, sciences, english, geography and my computer courses (which is education).

 

[LNZ]

In the modern world we live in, slow reaction times are more more than good enough about 99% of the time. Filling out a form to get credit or apply for a welfare payment or voting in an election does not require supe fast reaction times.

Solving any puzzle is educational and does have benefits, but it is very unlikely to be academic.

Again, the argument that if playing poker and its variants is academic or not is valid here too. If poker was academic, then soving a puzzle on any kind would be too.

True, both poker and solving puzzles have been treated and discussed in serious peer reviewed journals. But so has fringe subjects too like cutting up a cake so all get a "fair" portion and dart throwing accuracy, and so on.

 

[miniGOINGS]

In the modern world we live in, slow reaction times are more more than good enough about 99% of the time. Filling out a form to get credit or apply for a welfare payment or voting in an election does not require supe fast reaction times.

Solving any puzzle is educational and does have benefits, but it is very unlikely to be academic.

Again, the argument that if playing poker and its variants is academic or not is valid here too. If poker was academic, then soving a puzzle on any kind would be too.

True, both poker and solving puzzles have been treated and discussed in serious peer reviewed journals. But so has fringe subjects too like cutting up a cake so all get a "fair" portion and dart throwing accuracy, and so on.

What about Chess?...

 

[vgbjason]

For the record: I would've kicked you off too, because being on a forum about speedcubing, and actually speedcubing, are two different things when it comes to mental stimulation.

AUGH!!! I can't stand unnecessary commas!!

Speedcubing is educational, but so is just about everything. Name something that you can't learn anything from and i'll give you a thousand hypothetical dollars.

 

[blah]

cubing is absolutely beneficial to critical thinking

How so? :confused:

 

[JTW2007]

For the record: I would've kicked you off too, because being on a forum about speedcubing, and actually speedcubing, are two different things when it comes to mental stimulation.

AUGH!!! I can't stand unnecessary commas!!

Oops. You're right. I edited it.

cubing is absolutely beneficial to critical thinking

How so? :confused:

Perhaps I should rephrase to, "cubing was most certainly beneficial to my critical thinking abilities." The same may not be true for everyone, but I feel that cubing has greatly improved my ability to solve problems in creative ways. In cubing, when confronted with a scenario that you have never encountered, you can often find a way around it by relating it to things you do know. That approach often works in real life too.

 

[Brettludlow]

Obviously not otherwise you'd be able to spell Speedcubing in the title
Haha im only joking

 

[blah]

cubing is absolutely beneficial to critical thinking

How so? :confused:

Perhaps I should rephrase to, "cubing was most certainly beneficial to my critical thinking abilities." The same may not be true for everyone, but I feel that cubing has greatly improved my ability to solve problems in creative ways. In cubing, when confronted with a scenario that you have never encountered, you can often find a way around it by relating it to things you do know. That approach often works in real life too.

But that's creative thinking, not critical thinking. I'm guessing that was what you originally meant?

Being critical is being able to assess what's good and what's bad, with logical reasoning to back your stance up, instead of just taking what others say for granted. Think movie critic, they critique, there's nothing creative about doing that and it's got nothing to do with problem-solving skills.

 

[JTW2007]

cubing is absolutely beneficial to critical thinking

How so? :confused:

Perhaps I should rephrase to, "cubing was most certainly beneficial to my critical thinking abilities." The same may not be true for everyone, but I feel that cubing has greatly improved my ability to solve problems in creative ways. In cubing, when confronted with a scenario that you have never encountered, you can often find a way around it by relating it to things you do know. That approach often works in real life too.

But that's creative thinking, not critical thinking. I'm guessing that was what you originally meant?

Being critical is being able to assess what's good and what's bad, with logical reasoning to back your stance up, instead of just taking what others say for granted. Think movie critic, they critique, there's nothing creative about doing that and it's got nothing to do with problem-solving skills.

Yes, you are correct. I had meant creative thinking in the original post. I was just operating on about two hours of sleep when I wrote it. Thanks for clearing that up though.

 

[Heaartful]

I think this is a little off topic, but I live in Canada, and my school librarians don't care. None of the websites are blocked.. lucky for me and my friends

 

[Ethan Rosen]

i got a 35 on my ACTs and i think cubing had a hand in that. i don't know how but when i took a practice test before i cubed i think i got a 27

reminds me of this:

 

[Nukoca]

Name something that you can't learn anything from and i'll give you a thousand hypothetical dollars.

Eating a slice of cheese?

 

[endless_akatsuki]

Name something that you can't learn anything from and i'll give you a thousand hypothetical dollars.

Eating a slice of cheese?

You learn about its taste

 

[JTW2007]

reminds me of this:

I thought the exact same thing!