SOMA News

19 Jan 2000 E-Mail.

Written by Philip (Scotland) at: philipdnoble@easynet.co.uk

This day in Jan 2000, I received a mail from Philip.
Philip is working on the topics of story telling and the wonder and delight about why the eureka moment is so important.
As an example of two such moments, Philip told me this (True life) story.

I once showed a model of the Soma cube to a Japanese friend who worked in a kindergarten in Tokyo. I gave it to him with the seven pieces assembled into a cube.
He was delighted with it and said that he would use it in his kindergarten, but he told me that he would give the children the shapes to play with, - but not telling them anything about Soma and the cube.

"Then, he said, one day in a week or two, one of the children will have the wonderful experience of discovering that the pieces can be fitted together to make a cube. What delight."

There are in fact many different ways in which this can be done. But it was twenty years later that I learned of an even finer challenge.

A German professor of play at a conference in Lisbon in 1997 demonstrated a particular assembly of the SOMA cube that allowed the final arrangement to be balanced upon the index finger.
This again was one of these 'Aha' experiences, that are so important for us humans.