May 2019 Patron Post

This month we're changing it up! Again, someone emailed me asking to help with their school project and I gave a super lengthy response but I think it's pretty interesting.

The topic is about whether speedcubing is a sport, but (spoiler alert) I end up boiling it down to an argument about language instead of cubing and sports. 

Before reading this, I want to clarify that in my opinion, saying that cubing "is a sport" or "is not a sport" is really not important at all since it has no practical effect. But it's still a fun little debate to have, and here are my reasons for why I would argue for no, cubing is not a sport:

 1. Is speedcubing a sport and why? 

Here's a definition of sport that I found:

"an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment."

and another:

"an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess"

If I had to pick a side, I would say that speedcubing is not a sport. However, I also think that if an exact definition is given to the word "sport", then speedcubing would have to be classified as a sport.

Although cubing requires physical skill and exertion, so does almost everything else you can possibly do. For example, playing the flute requires a similar level of exertion, and if there were a flute competition, then playing the flute could be considered a sport. To accept the definition of "sport" as accurate and complete, then one would also accept that playing the flute is a sport. I believe that the word "sport" is meant to be a very general term that is not meant to be well-defined when dealing with edge cases of whether something really is or is not a sport.

As the purpose of language is to have widely accepted meanings for words, I would ask myself if I would group cubing with other sports in a practical sense of the word "sport". For example, if I was asked "do you participate in any sports?", I would say no if my only hobby was cubing (or playing the flute), simply because that makes more sense than saying yes in the context of such a question. Therefore, at least in this context, I would suggest that "sport" should not include cubing, nor many of the other activities that happen to fall within the definition of a sport (such as the flute).

2. What aspects of a sport does cubing cover?

Cubing includes competition, entertainment, and physical skill. Cubing includes physical exertion to a smaller extent.

3. What aspects of a sport does cubing not cover?

Cubing includes all aspects of a sport.

4. Are the different types of cube hardware like the different types of tennis strings, golf balls, etc.?

A single cube can be customized in terms of its screw depth, stickers, magnets, lubrication, and spring strength.

There are also many different designs of speedcubes that produce different qualities, including speed, control, stability, and corner cutting.

There are different types of puzzles such as the 2x2 or pyraminx.

5. Any thing else you would like to add to support your reasons?

I think that classifying cubing as a sport or not a sport boils down to one's perception of language. Language is either to be interpreted and does not follow strict rules, or there are absolute underlying rules that must be followed so that we can distinguish edge cases for definitions. I personally believe neither is necessarily always the case, but the former is true sometimes. Definitions are often how we make sense of the words we use. I believe that a definition is often just our best description of the word rather than rigorous instructions on how the word works. And for boundary cases like whether something is a sport, it makes sense to consider words as what we think they mean, rather than what their written definition says they mean.