In 2024, the Rubik’s Cube, the puzzle invented by the Hungarian professor of architecture Ernő Rubik, celebrates its 50th anniversary. We would like to take this opportunity to discuss how important Rubik’s invention has been to humanity. It is estimated that approximately one in seven people in the world have at least attempted to solve the Rubik`s Cube. This amounts to over a billion people. Rubik himself writes in his biography, Cubed: The Puzzle of Us All, that the cube can bring out important qualities in each of us that are central to utilizing our creative potential, such as sharpening concentration, arousing curiosity, and activating the eagerness to discover solutions. The Rubik’s Cube has received attention in many different fields since its invention, including art, science, pedagogy, technology, politics, and philosophy. Not only that, the Rubik’s Cube has led to the creation of a new sport: speedcubing.

Speedcubing is about solving different types of cubes as quickly as possible. Like chess, speedcubing is usually considered more of a mental activity. While the International Olympic Committee (IOC) classifies chess as a sport, despite its relative lack of physical exertion, speedcubing has not been officially classified as a sport yet. At the same time, speedcubing requires physical skills, including hand-eye coordination, muscle memory, and fine motor skills. The fastest speedcubers recognize numerous patterns, know hundreds of algorithms, and are lightning fast with their fingers. The journalist and speedcuber Ian Scheffler suggests in his book, Cracking the Cube, that one can imagine chess being played at the speed of table tennis. Since 2004, the World Cube Association (WCA), the international governing body for speedcubing, has organized competitions worldwide, with over 1,000 cube competitions and Continental Championships annually and a World Championship every two years. Such factors lead us to suggest that speedcubing is quite similar to many other activities that are regarded as sport.

The Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports published a report in 2023 that was based on a literature review in addition to surveys and interviews. The report showed that although organized sport is a good arena for inclusion, barriers to gender balance and equality can be a challenge, and racism, discrimination, and harassment occur in competitive sport, particularly towards LGBT+ people, people with a minority background, disabilities, and female athletes. Associate professor at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, Kristin Vindhol Evensen, writes that the logic of competitive sport is based on categorization into gender, class, weight, age, and performance level, and thus implies resistance to, for example, physical difference, where physically imperfect people are presented as deviations from the norm. Here, the cube community has something unique to offer, as it stands for an inclusive, appreciative, and mutually supportive society consisting of people of all ages and shapes, without any form of division or prioritization of the fastest. Anyone who can solve the cube can participate, regardless of age, gender, culture, sexual orientation, nationality, or any disabilities. At cube competitions, a 55-year-old sits next to a 9-year-old, a girl from Germany next to a boy from Norway, a world record holder next to a beginner, a youth with autism next to another with social anxiety. Here, everyone is equal and no one is too old to participate or is excluded for other reasons.

In a survey we conducted among Norwegian speedcubers of all ages, the participants answered that they feel very much included and belonging to a supportive community that promotes coping, enjoyment of sport, acknowledgement, and respect for each other. All age groups described that through participation in cubing competitions, they became more aware that we are all unique and equally valuable even though we have different strengths. The community of cubing competitions made it possible for the participants to be themselves, dare to show their skills, and feel good about themselves.

There is no reason to believe that Norway is unique in this context. Filmmaker Sue Kim, the director of the documentary, The Speed ​​Cubers, aptly sums up the speedcubing community in an interview with Deadline: “It’s exactly as you see in the film, in that all the kids and adults are so incredibly kind and decent to each other, and the level of sportsmanship and just goodwill, I’ve never seen. I’ve never stumbled across a universe so decent and wholesome and pure.” The documentary shows the friendship between Feliks Zemdegs and Max Park, the world’s fastest cubers. Max was diagnosed with autism at a young age. The film shows his journey from being a small child with motor skill issues and little social interaction, to becoming a world champion who, along the way, both makes friends and learns to deal with stress, disappointment, social codes, and many stimuli around him.

While practitioners of other competitive sports often train several times a week with friends or teammates, speedcubers can be quite alone when cubing. In our survey, 2 out of 3 answered that they did not know anyone or only 1-2 others who cubed in their immediate environment. A large international survey came to an almost identical result. In our survey, all age groups confirmed that cube competitions give them the opportunity to get to know other people who share the same interest, and the competitions became an arena where they can build new friendships. We therefore assume that speedcubers try to take care of the community to a greater extent than some other sports because one is quite alone when speedcubing in everyday life. The social gathering at such competitions can thus become something that participants want to protect. As Sue Kim says in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, once you’re a part of that universe, you’re not going to do anything to damage it.

Another reason for the unique speedcubing community may be the environment’s large age range. Most participants are younger than age 15, where the focus is more on having fun. At the same time, young adult and adult speedcubers take responsibility for ensuring that the youngest can have positive experiences. Although speedcubing is a competitive sport, acknowledgment and friendship count more than competition and victory. In our survey, the participants answered that participation in cube competitions largely teaches them to acknowledge other participants rather than seeing them as opponents. Certain value carriers with good attitudes can then have a greater impact on the overall environment. The large age range can thus contribute to mutual regulation, where children affect the adult speedcubers with their playfulness and joy, while the adults take responsibility of protecting the community where everyone should have good experiences.

Admittedly, speedcubing is a competitive sport. Journalist Ian Scheffler writes in his book that the fastest speedcubers are highly competitive. At the same time, he also highlights the welcoming and supportive community the cube environment offers. For most, the goal is not to be the best, but to improve from the previous competition. Speedcubing can then be considered more like a competition against oneself to push one’s own time, while at the same time cheering rather than competing against each other.

Some of the most important features of sport are joy, coping, and well-being—not medals. In line with this, we think that the most important transfer value speedcubing has to other sports is to show how an active emphasis on joy, well-being, and development means that the performance culture does not become overpowering. Such an emphasis can help to create an environment where everyone takes care of each other, feels welcome, and is given the opportunity to develop at their own pace. Ensuring inclusion and preventing exclusion is an important societal mission to promote public health and maintain a functional society. We always have to ask ourselves: What kind of society do we want to live in and how can we contribute to it? Perhaps the speedcubing community can be an inspiration for how we meet and value each other, not only in sport, but also in everyday life in general.

This article is a shortened and slightly rewritten version of Speedcubing’s contribution to an inclusive society. Published with approval from the Norwegian Journal for Health Promotion and Drug Prevention Work.

Author Biographical Notes:

Jan Hammer is a Clinical Nurse Specialist with a master’s degree in mental healthcare from the University of South-Eastern Norway. He has previously worked as a mental health nurse at acute inpatient wards, and later as an R&D advisor and special advisor with experience in project management, research, implementation and evaluation. He lectures on topics related to mental healthcare and has written scientific articles, book chapters, and reports. Hammer was active in competitive sports at national and international levels in his youth and started speedcubing in autumn 2022.

Jan Tore Skjørshammer has his education from the University of Stavanger and University of Bergen within human resource management, social science, and law. He has been a Human Resource manager for more than 20 years. Skjørshammer started speedcubing in 2022.

Trond Kyrre Simensen is a police superintendent with a master’s degree in police science. He works as a lecturer at the Norwegian Police University College. His main topics are crime prevention and work ethics. He has been the co-writer of several book chapters and scientific articles. Simensen started speedcubing in 2024.