Should speed define who is "good" at cubing?

[Johnny]

Maybe there is a slower cuber that can solve the cube in the fewer moves than most speed solvers. Would that make him/her a good cuber? Is someone who averages about a minute on 3x3 but feels unusually passionate about cubing a good cuber?

I think that speed is a possible determination of who is good at cubing but I think it's overrated. Efficiency is important as well- Minimizing the amount of turns performed is an important aspect.

But since the whole point of cubing is to have fun, should we determine who is good at cubing by who has the most fun solving?

Just trying to think outside the "if you're over 30/20/15 seconds you are a horrible cuber" box.

 

[TDM]

But since the whole point of cubing is to have fun, should we determine who is good at cubing by who has the most fun solving?

Good luck determining who's the best cuber then.

I've never cubed because I want to get faster - instead, getting faster makes me want to cube more. Being able to get faster is what motivates me to practise, even if I don't actually get faster.

I think the whole point about efficiency is that the more efficient you are, the faster you are. Someone who averages a bit less than 50 moves only needs 6 TPS to average 8, but someone like faz who averages 10 TPS and averages less than 8 averages, unless I've calculated incorrectly, over 70 moves ETM. So whilst that does show that efficiency is important to speed, you're right in a way - not many people are good at fewest moves, which requires you to think a lot more.

I don't think speed should define what makes a cuber 'good', because everyone has different opinions on what the word 'good' means. For some people, speed should. I think it's some of everything, and you can't really measure how good someone from is from just their speed, especially as people's speeds often vary between events.

 

[Riverdance]

Speed shouldn't be the determining factor of who's good at cubing. Speed is a factor of who's good at speedcubing

 

[Johnny]

Speed shouldn't be the determining factor of who's good at cubing. Speed is a factor of who's good at speedcubing

Of course. But it seems like there isn't a big cubing scene outside of speedcubing. I think most people mean "speedcubing" when they say "cubing".

 

[Jaysammey777]

there are slow people, who are brilliant cubers. It mainly depends on what you bring to the plate. At the same time I wouldn't necessarily say anyone's bad at cubing considering it is a relative term. i.e. Everybody thinks I'm a master at Rubik's cubes... at my school, but here, I'm more of a noob.

 

[Noahaha]

Maybe there is a slower cuber that can solve the cube in the fewer moves than most speed solvers.

This is called FMC. It is one of the many official events that is not 3x3. I think you need to be good at something to be a good cuber, whether it's one of the 17 events, or something else that has to do with cubing. Plenty of bad cubers are great people/members of the community. Bob Burton, for example.

 

[Benyó]

if you cause 5 accidents in 7 minutes on the road but feel unusually passionate about driving and have incredible fun, are you a good driver?
timing exists to decide who is better and the best will win. not very complicated

 

[XTowncuber]

Other than speed I can really only think of a few things that would make a cuber good.

1. efficiency (FMC)
2. memory (people who aren't good at speed events but can do epicness while blindfolded)
3. general solving skills (people who can find solutions for unusual puzzles. They generally hang out on twistypuzzles)

but then I still feel like there are people who are good cubers but not covered by this. Brest comes to mind.

 

[Jokern]

Out of 17 official events, 15 of them are sorted solely based on time. Then we have multiblind who first sorts by points, then by time. and finally FMC which just sorts by move count.
Both latter options involve alot more time/work for both organizers and cubers.
The reason being fast is the most popular way to describe how good someone is because it is the easiest one to measure. The favorite thing for everyone is to compete (either with eachother or against oneself).

 

[kcl]

Well, yeah. I mean think about Noah Arthurs. I'm gonna pick on him and say he's bad at 3x3 (not saying I'm good, but I figure he doesn't consider himself fast). He is still an incredibly highly ranked blind solver, and a wonderful member of the community. I would definitely consider him a "good" cuber. This applies to other people as well. Or someone like maybe.. Chris Hardwick. It's not like he's super way fast, but his knowledge of theory and puzzles in general is just awesome. Hopefully you're catching my drift.

 

[yoshinator]

Speed should define who is good at SPEEDcubing at cubing, I don't know, and I don't particularly care.

 

[Ninja Storm]

Well we are on Speedsolving, did you expect a TwistyPuzzles crowd?

 

[Kirjava]

Kirjava is the best cuber.

 

[TMOY]

Other than speed I can really only think of a few things that would make a cuber good.

1. efficiency (FMC)
2. memory (people who aren't good at speed events but can do epicness while blindfolded)
3. general solving skills (people who can find solutions for unusual puzzles. They generally hang out on twistypuzzles)

4. puzzle building/modding (people who can create new, original puzzles. Also mostly seen on twistypuzzles)

Speed is one way to tell whether a cuber is good or not, it has the advantage of allowing objective comparisons between cubers (and that's why it's the most used one in competitions). but it's far from being the only possible one.

 

[kinch2002]

5. Contributions to methodology - e.g. alg finding, thinking about methods/substeps
6. Community support e.g. personal encouragement
7. Leadership contributions e.g. Organisers, those with WCA positions

The problem with this discussion is whether the stated "good cuber" was meant to indicate "a person who is good at cubing" or "cuber who is good for cubing" or both.

 

[Escher]

To answer your question literally... People who are 'good' at cubing in my opinion are people who do good for the scene, through whatever means that might be - teaching new people, breaking speed barriers, organising competitions, helping people get better, being a good ambassador for the sport, etc etc. Mike Erskine is a great example of someone who isn't particularly fast but the UK scene would be very different without him because he's such an awesome and helpful guy. Speedpicker is another example of someone who isn't godlike in terms of speed but the material he's posted over the past year or two has been great for encouraging mindset improvements and expanding the field of deliberate practise for cubing.

The cubing community gives so much away for free that I think the best measurement is how much people give back themselves, through whatever metrics you want to use. All the rest are just filthy casuals.

Edit: Lol I got ninja'd within 1 minute by Daniel with the first comment similarly to the effect of mine. GG.

 

[Dene]

Define "good" --> get the answer you want.

My definition for good: Delegate lots of fazcomps. Now I'm the best damn cuber around.

 

[sneaklyfox]

I know it's only January, but I nominate this as best thread of the year haha.

My definition of good: Cubing under duress or distraction. (Major sleep deprivation, babies nursing, kids talking, labour pains, etc.) So I'm the best!

 

[mark49152]

My definition: good at finding opportunities to cube when one should be doing something else more important instead. I'm world class at that.

 

[sneaklyfox]

My definition: good at finding opportunities to cube when one should be doing something else more important instead. I'm world class at that.

Me too! I'm sooo good at cubing!