“Speedcubing satisfies the basic psychological need for competence, the feeling of effectiveness and mastery,” explains Dr Beloborodova. It involves a number of factors including, problem-solving, memory, spatial reasoning and motor coordination.
But solving the cube may also elicit happiness because it taps into other emotions, according to Dr Julia Christensen, a senior research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics in Germany. “Awe, beauty, being moved, all these are aesthetic emotions, and experiencing them gives us an extreme sense of happiness,” she says.
“For example, when a pattern is the right pattern, when a move is particularly amazing on the cube, these aesthetic emotions can give transformative experiences.”
Some speedcubers have described the state of mind that the activity can bring as a sense of “flow”.
“This state is achieved when the activity’s difficulty matches your skill level, distractions are minimal, the goals are clear, and feedback is immediate — all of which are characteristics of speedcubing,” says Dr Beloborodova.
Flow can feel “almost meditative”, according to Ian Scheffler, author of Cracking the Cube, who has experienced this first-hand. “You enter this state where you are kind of thinking and not thinking at the same time – you are reacting to what the cube is giving you, but in almost an instinctual way.
“It’s a kind of mindfulness that’s deeply rewarding… a peaceful, calm state where you’re completely in tune with every twist of the puzzle.”