The Rubik’s Cube: A question waiting to be answered

RubiksCubeQuestions

Google recently released a great short video (see below) about the value of curiosity and questioning, partly in honor of Budapest-based educator Erno Rubik on the 40th anniversary of his Rubik’s Cube (created by him in 1974; released to the public in the 1980s), but also a call to nurture the next generation of “scientists, engineers, artists, designers, inventors, or something no one’s ever been before… but you can bet we’re going to need.”

I didn’t know this about Erno Rubik, but he’s obviously a card-carrying Master Questioner. In the video Rubik says something that will sound familiar to anyone reading my book:

Knowledge is a habit. Sometimes there’s a limit to having new ideas. That’s the problem with the old schooling. Because they were teaching answers. I believe that questions today are probably more important today than the answers.

Google’s video goes on to make the point that the Cube is more than a puzzle or a toy. As they say, “Erno’s cube is a question waiting to be answered. And when the right person finds the right question something amazing happens.” They also point to a few more “beautiful questions” for me to add to my list.

The message to all of us: “Help kids fall in love with problem-solving.”

If you’re a question aficionado, as I am, watch this video and smile:


» Want still more? Click on this graphic to read all the articles on this site about Kids & Questioning, and check out my popular Edutopia article “5 Ways to Help Your Students Become Better Questioners.”

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How can we keep the questioning going as adults? See this fast-click blogshare…

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About the Author

Innovation expert and questionologist Warren Berger has studied hundreds of the world’s foremost innovators, entrepreneurs, and creative thinkers to learn how they ask questions, generate original ideas, and solve problems. He is the author or co-author of 12 books, including his three books on questioning: A MORE BEAUTIFUL QUESTION: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas; its follow-up THE BOOK OF BEAUTIFUL QUESTIONS: The Powerful Questions That Will Help You Decide, Create, Connect, and Lead; and BEAUTIFUL QUESTIONS IN THE CLASSROOM: Transforming Classrooms Into Cultures of Curiosity and Inquiry. Warren’s writing has appeared in Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, and The New York Times, and he writes the “Questionologist” blog for Psychology Today. He lives in Mount Kisco, New York. Follow him on Twitter at @GlimmerGuy and subscribe to his blog posts

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