My son’s Rubik’s cube taught me a valuable lesson about performative mathematics

The best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. I didn’t study the group theory behind the Rubik’s cube and consequently I have no deep insights into the toy. During the process, this is what I discovered: there are strong parallels, I believe, between my feelings in going out of my comfort zone to learn the Rubik’s cube and most people’s experience with maths. To keep up to speed with all the latest opinions and comment, sign up to our free weekly Voices Dispatches newsletter by clicking here I didn’t study the group theory underlying the algorithm that I learned to solve the cube. I will admit I felt intimidated by the weight of mathematical expectation on me – feeling I should first master the relevant group theory before I learned how to solve the Rubik’s cube.