The Promise of Small Steps in Life’s Rubik’s Cube
How Small Shifts in Perspective Open New Worlds
There are many kinds of eyes. Even the sphinx has eyes — and consequently there are many kinds of ‘truths,’ and consequently there is no truth. — Fredrich Nietzsche
Introduction — The Puzzle of Small Steps
Life’s like a Rubik’s cube — don’t be afraid to twist it around, even if the colors get messed up. Life is messy. The truth isn’t always lucid.
As Nietzsche said, just as there are many kinds of eyes — like the eyes of the sphinx — there are many perspectives and ‘truths’ that we can only see one at a time.¹
Nietzsche believed that truth is subjective and we must examine issues from multiple perspectives to gain wisdom. This view of ‘perspectivism’ inspired me to take small steps to turn the cube and broaden my vision.
Just as I learned from my son Sean’s playful cube-twisting, small, gradual turns align the puzzle while embracing the messy process. Similarly, we can gain clarity through life’s complexity by taking small steps to understand new perspectives.
In this essay, I’ll share how incremental perspective shifts, inspired by Nietzsche’s philosophy and my son Sean’s approach of playing with a Rubik’s cube, have unlocked new insights. Small steps help us explore life’s puzzle without being overwhelmed.
Join me as we take small steps together to turn the cube and broaden our vision — starting with appreciating that what we see depends on where we stand, yet seeking broader truths by exploring many perspectives.
First Turn — Overcoming Resistance through Gradual Growth
Nietzsche’s views have critics — some worry about truth, others about nihilism. But what if we addressed these objections through small steps?
His perspectivism philosophy holds that truth is subjective. He felt we should challenge preconceived notions by considering alternative viewpoints. Small steps aim to apply this — gradually growing perspective by learning about other cultures.
For instance, to tackle concerns about morality, I’ve challenged my perspectives by committing to learning one new fact about a culture different than mine every week. Small steps like this open me to new viewpoints on life.
To counter the claim of radical subjectivity, we can take small steps like having one daily conversation focused on earnestly understanding someone else’s perspective.
With critiques addressed through gradual growth, we can now focus on how small shifts in perspective might enrich our understanding, continuing to turn our cube.
Second Turn — A Journey of Small Shifts
Sometimes, I approach life like I approach solving the Rubik’s cube — with brute force. Desperately grasping at life’s puzzle, fingers cramped from forcing misaligned pieces. In my frustration, I would twist the Rubik’s cube frantically, determined to solve everything at once — family, career, dreams.
Then, a sudden epiphany. Watching my son Sean gently turn each side, aligning one cube after another, momentarily looking it over from side to side, I saw the power of incremental steps interspersed with reflective pauses.
There is power in taking a momentary pause, a deep breath, to look things over. This slight shift opens new pathways of insight, easing the tension that knots shoulders and furrows foreheads—those little mindfulness breaks throughout the day. Even pausing for just 1 minute to focus on breathing can hit the brakes on a frenzied state and provoke insights².
At work, I check in on colleagues, in-person and online. I stroll the campus and let the Florida sunshine warm the back of my neck. These slight shifts in my daily grind clear my mind and realign jumbled thoughts into patterns of insight—small steps create spaciousness amid chaos.
Rather than wrestling with life’s messy puzzle, I now take it bit by bit, discovering calm and wisdom in the process.
Third Turn — Tiny Changes, Big Revelations
Sean’s carefree exploration of his Rubik’s cube reminded me that life’s puzzles don’t have to be solved. We can appreciate the process of aligning cubes through small discoveries. Rather than quickly forcing solutions, he turned the cube with curiosity, finding joy in each new angle revealed.
I took a cue from Sean and introduced a few daily five-minute “playtimes” to explore ideas without judgment. I started conversing with Claude, an AI assistant, to get fresh, outside-the-box perspectives. I also began taking brief strolls to clear my mind and jotting morning pages to tap my creativity.
As Julia Cameron describes, morning pages involve three longhand pages of uncensored, stream-of-consciousness writing to start the day.³ You can pour thoughts onto paper to provoke new insights without judging yourself. Just the simple act of daily writing can bring clarity and perspective.
My morning pages led to revelations about unexplored research topics, like philosophy of mind and AI neural networks — it led me to pen one of my favorite poems, “The Mirroring Machine.”
A musical chat with Claude opened me up to fresh musical genres I’d never listened to, like neo-soul and alt-jazz.
Tiny changes in dull routines led to growth and big revelations. I became more creative, understanding, and self-aware as I opened myself to new angles rather than wrestling with life’s messy puzzles.
Your Turn — Breaking it Down Step-by-Step
To truly benefit from the philosophy of perspectivism, here’s a simple exercise broken down into small steps:
Step 1: Perspective Practice with an Object
Just like studying each side of a Rubik’s cube, take 5 minutes to look at an ordinary object from multiple angles. Note what you observe.
Step 2: Perspective-Taking in a Conflict
The next time you find yourself in a disagreement, pause. Take a moment to consider the other person’s perspective as a different side of the cube.
Step 3: Rotating Perspectives in Real Time
Throughout the week, pause to ‘rotate the cube’ in your mind before making decisions or judgments. This can be as simple as taking three deep breaths to center yourself.
Step 4: Examining Core Beliefs
Choose one belief that you hold dear, and spend a day considering its opposite. You don’t have to change your belief; just explore it.
Step 5: Perspective-Taking on Current Events
Make it a practice to read articles or viewpoints that differ from your own at least once a week.
Conclusion — Continuing the Dance, Bit by Bit
We began by overcoming reservations through gradual growth, taking it step-by-step. We moved through small shifts, pausing to reflect. We found revelations in tiny changes through playful exploration.
Now we set down the cube, perfectly aligned, waiting like the cube in the opening image for life to come along and mess it up a bit. That’s okay. Rubik’s cubes, like life, are meant for playful perspective-taking.
As philosopher Alan Watts said,
“…when you’re dancing, you’re not worried about getting somewhere. The dance itself is the purpose.”
As we embrace the dance of perspectives through small steps, we focus on the journey of discovery rather than the destination. My son Sean modeled this, finding joy in each playful turn of his Rubik’s cube, appreciating every glimpse gained, not just the solution.
Let’s keep taking small steps to attune ourselves to our dance partners — seeking to see through their eyes. There is no perfect solution, only new angles of insight revealed by curiosity and flexible perspectives.
Bit by bit, let’s keep turning the cube, broadening our horizons through this lifelong dance of diverse insights.
References
¹Hales, S. D. (2019). “Nietzsche’s epistemic perspectivism.” In Knowledge from a human point of view (pp. 19–35). Springer.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27041-4_2
²Lamoreux, K. (2021, September 28). 1-minute mindfulness exercises. Medical News Today. Retrieved September 23, 2023, from
https://psychcentral.com/health/minute-mindfulness-exercises
³Cameron, J. (2023). Morning pages. Julia Cameron Live. Accessed September 24, 2023.
https://juliacameronlive.com/basic-tools/morning-pages/
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