Posted on 01/14/2009 10:59:52 AM PST by LibWhacker
You know those guys who can solve a Rubik's cube in a matter of seconds? Well, Graham Parker is definitely not one of them.
After 26 years of trying, Parker finally managed to solve the Rubik's cube that confounded him. Now, you may be thinking that he only occasionally picked up the puzzle, slowing his progress—but the reality is that he obsessed over it day after day, night after night.
'I cannot tell you what a relief it was to finally solve it,' the 45-year-old from Portchester, Hampshire, said. 'It has driven me mad over the years – it felt like it had taken over my life. I have missed important events to stay in and solve it and I would lie awake at night thinking about it.
'I have had wrist and back problems from spending hours on it but it was all worth it. When I clicked that last bit into place and each face was a solid color, I wept.'
Seriously. His wife claimed that it was like three people were in their marriage. When she met him, he was already obsessed with the cube. And she still married him? What a saint.
Oh, and you know this is a record. A spokesman for the World Cube Association, said it was 'definitely the longest it has taken' to finish the cube. Now that is a true champion.
I remember after two or three minutes, I found the creative solution, take it apart and put it back together solved.
I bought the solution book...hehehe
Ahh, so you think out of the cube!
This reads like an article from “The Onion”.
This man has just experienced what a creative mathematician or scientist experiences when, after long years of pondering a proposition or problem, the light finally shines and the proof or solution shows itself. Good for him.
Reminds me of the time it took me 18 months to put a puzzle together. I was so proud of myself because it says on the box “3 to 5 years”.
This IS satire, right?
Duh!
It's a lot quicker to solve it than it is to dismantle and reassemble it.
I’ve never had the desire to pick one up.
In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell pointed out that effort alone in taking the TIMMS international math and science test was a predictor of the score of a student. The number of questions answered correlated almost absolutely to the number of questions a student answered. The more questions answered, the higher the score. It’s all about endurance and effort.
But in this case, I’m gonna make an exception. Put down the cube and get busy on the universe, sir.
Reminds me of the guy who found Nixon’s face in a potato. Cliff Claven if I remember rightly. Yeesh.
Every night, just for fun, Chuck Norris swallows a Rubiks Cube.
The next morning he craps it out—solved. He’s an amazing man.
Ahh - the mechanics solution. That’s what I did too.
Exactly my solution.
I won my bet, too.
You’re like me. I gave it about three twists, and started thinking, how is this thing held together? Five minutes later, it was sitting on my desk, reassembled in the proper manner.
I always considered it to be a good intelligence test. The guys prying it apart with screwdrivers are the intelligent ones.
Obviously, another Obama voter....
Usually 26 seconds is all it takes.
My solution was similar. I took off the stickers and put them back on in the right order. My dad damn near killed me...lol
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