aggressivelystrange:

Ok, just picture.

What would aliens think of Rubik’s cubes?

There are 43 QUINTILLION different configurations for a 3x3x3 alone. I’m not even going to get into the more complicated ones because it is wayy complicated.

However, that little plastic Satan shit can be solved in 2 minutes or less (much less in some cases)

Then there’s the fact that we don’t just solve it, we make patterns and designs with it. We have entire competitions where world records are set. We go absolutely nuts over these god damn plastic cube fuckers.

Just imagine. Imagine a species that may have puzzles, but nothing as simultaneously complicated and simple. Then they encounter a child. Diligently working on a 3x3x3.

“I’ve had it for a couple of weeks now and I still haven’t solved it, but my brother can do it in under a minute”

Out of curiosity they decide to calculate how many different ways it can be configured (perhaps to obtain a view on how intelligent human beings are that certain individuals can memorize and solve this particular puzzle.)

43 quintillion. It’s impossible, but we did it anyway. We made it and it took the creator a month to solve it. Some humans can solve it in 7 seconds.

We memorize algorithms and spend hours learning a skill that is worth absolutely nothing but entertainment and competition.

But not even that was enough because we made versions with extra sides, or less sides, or different shapes. Why? No idea but someone was probably bored.