Message #2631

From: Melinda Green <melinda@superliminal.com>
Subject: Re: [MC4D] New solve of 3^7 !
Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2013 03:44:51 -0800

My "why" is just my emotional reaction. Intellectually I know full well
why people do these things. It’s really nice of you to give thanks for
our partners, though I would probably thank them for their loving
support rather than their understanding since it is so hard to explain.

How do other list members feel about this topic? How do you explain your
interest in twisty puzzles in general? Do your listeners get it? Do they
even want to get it?

Even my smartest friends seem reluctant to hear too much about it, but
in their cases I’m guessing that they worry that if they learn how these
puzzles work that they may feel compelled to solve them and they are
afraid that they may not have the time or be up to the challenge so
they’d rather not know. Sometimes I’ll successfully get across the
concepts and the UI for the 4D cube, but when I mention that we also
have /even higher/ dimensional cubes and other polytopes, they will
usually cut the conversation off at that point. It’s too bad really
because I want to show them how they can have a lot of fun with these
puzzles without ever attempting a full solve of any of them. I would
love to hear some ideas for how to explain this stuff to others without
scaring them off.

-Melinda

On 1/25/2013 9:18 PM, schuma wrote:
> Congratulations, Craig! Is this a New Year resolution of you?
>
> I also praise the significant others of the puzzlers, for their understanding and patient on us.
>
> Melinda, so you are asking "why"? I’ve been thinking about the meaning of life several times when I solve the big puzzles. And, there has been no answer.
>
> Nan
>
>
> — In 4D_Cubing@yahoogroups.com, Craig Durward wrote:
>> Cheers guys, I’m not sure exactly why I decided to do the 3^7. It’s an interesting object to mess around with and I got slowly drawn into solving it. Once I realised how long it was going to take it was too late to back out! My wife is thrilled that I’ve finished it - mainly because it means she’ll have me back again! As she is someone who hasn’t the slightest interest in any of this it’s difficult to convey to her (or anyone else, really) what it is I’m doing or why. And if I can’t even explain how the 4d cube works to her I haven’t got much hope with the 7d one. It didn’t quite take me 507 hours. I’d estimate that I spent about 5 hours on it per day, so roughly 120 hours altogether. I can’t really justify spending all that time on it, but I’m safe in the knowledge that I’ll never attempt anything that ludicrous again! Thanks again to Andrey for the program and to everyone else who has contributed. It’s an interesting group to be part of and there are some very intelligent
> people here.
>> Craig To: 4D_Cubing@yahoogroups.com
>> From: damjan.zagorec@…
>> Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2013 09:48:02 +0000
>> Subject: Re: [MC4D] New solve of 3^7 !
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> http://wiki.superliminal.com/wiki/MC4D_Records
>>
>>
>>
>> — In 4D_Cubing@yahoogroups.com, "damjan.zagorec" wrote:
>>
>>> Congratulations, Craig!
>>> Yeah, I solved 7^4 on 14th October 2012 with 18604 twists.
>>> Damjan Zagorec
>>> — In 4D_Cubing@yahoogroups.com, "Andrey" wrote:
>>>> Now we have:
>>>> 4 solutions of 3^7
>>>> 4 solutions of 3^6
>>>> 1 solution of 4^6
>>>> 7 solutions of 120-cell
>>>> and 1 solution of simplified 600-cell :)
>>>> I remember about solution of 6^4, and what about 7^4? There was something about it…
>>>> — In 4D_Cubing@yahoogroups.com, Melinda Green wrote:
>>>>> Oh good lord, WHY? Seriously, I’m now to the point that I never assume
>>>>> what solutions will never be achieved. I was so certain that there would
>>>>> never be more than one solution of the 120 Cell but I was very wrong. If
>>>>> a mountain can be climbed then someone will do it. Even if it CAN’T be
>>>>> climbed, someone will do it anyway.
>>>>> I like how you started January 1 and finished in the same month. I am
>>>>> very impressed. I just wish I could listen to you try to explain to
>>>>> non-puzzlers what you did and why!
>>>>> You are probably dreaming in 7 dimension at this point. I hope that you
>>>>> take a nice break and enjoy the satisfaction of your feat. Then please
>>>>> come back and try some of the other incredible puzzles that puzzle
>>>>> makers here have created to tempt you.
>>>>> Congratulations, Craig!
>>>>> -Melinda
>>>>> On 1/24/2013 9:03 PM, Andrey wrote:
>>>>>> Hi all,
>>>>>> I’ve just got a letter from Craig Durward about a new solve of 3^7. It took 233099 twists and 507 hours by timer :) (actually, 24 days, started January 1st)
>>>>>> Congratulations, Craig!
>
>
>
> ————————————
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>