I am a noob. I am not an expert in fungal genetics.
I was a biology major. I love science and nature.
I am not an idiot.
I also am kinda retarded.
But frankly, I really am not buying this a cube is a cube shit I have seen everywhere (might be old threads and such so I may be well behind the curve here with this post).
As a new member, I initially had reservations... or more so anxiety to some extent to post and say something stupid, or look like a newb. How embarrassing. I do not know a single one of you fuckers (that I know of
).
That being said, I do apologize if this is the wrong forum to post this in.
I also would say I certainly accept I could be entirely wrong, or maybe this is already commonly accepted among current shroomites, I dont know, Im a newb 
But hear me out if you so choose...
A cube is a cube. Yes. But also no shot. No shot that is a fair or representative statement
(me posting this)Is this just something people say to get noobs to chill the fuck out asking about what the best variety is and what colonizes the fastest, what fruits the best, etc.? Because that would make complete sense and I certainly agree, just learn to cultivate successfully for fucks sake you are not a myco sommelier. Although this guy might be
But... in actuality, I am not buying it as a reasonable statement of fact. It just doesn't sit right with me. Do I think as cultivators, especially new cultivators, we should put attention into this matter for our grows? Probably not. Actually definitely not. There are far more critical things to worry about and factors influencing our grows than the variety we choose.
But should "a cube is a cube" be a commandment and anyone who even thinks to entertain a discussion such as variation among cubes be chastised? I do not believe so.

Take dogs, for example. A dog is a dog, right? They all need the same type of food, water, relatively the same environment. A chihuahua doesn't need the same space as a sheepdog. But a sheepdog certainly can still grow and live in an apartment happily and healthily and does not need open pastures, although it might not be an optimal situation...
But it would be insane to say all dogs are dogs and thus they all act the same and therefore it would be not just silly, but abhorrent, to even entertain or discuss the thought of there being differences between dogs. So why does it seem like this is where the discussion of cubensis varieties is at?
(again newb, so I have much more forum to explore so if there are lengthy threads already addressing this and I am misguided in thinking this is the state of the conversation... then this post was a waste of time).All dogs are certainly the same species, as are all cubes, but there are differences, OBSERVABLE differences in both the way dogs look and act/behave.
Furthermore, not only are the varieties of cubes different across the world naturally due to evolution (cannot say the same to the same extent for dogs as we domesticated them), but we also have "domesticated" cubensis to the point of distinguishing a new or different variety among the community.
Like look at this lil fucker chihuahua. He ain't no pipe smoking canine. A dog is not a dog.Now, like dogs, do all cubes need the same parameters to grow? As far as I know, yes. To give special growth or care parameters for a particular variety would be like giving your toy dog expensive canned food instead of normal dog food.... oh wait
But seriously, even though they all need the same growth parameters, does that mean they all act the same? Or behave the same? Or can you blatantly say a cube is a cube? I struggle to believe so.
Are humans all humans and should be treated as just another human? Hell yeah brother. One love.
But does that mean there are not subtle, or not so subtle, nuances and differences between the experience of life among certain groups of humans? Differences that, albeit not definitive to one's life, certainly would be reasonable to assume have some significance to those humans' lives a part of that group?
This may not seem relevant to fungi. Yet it is. Nature has a natural flow, order, disorder, and intelligence to it that manifests in similar ways across all biological life.
I understand "a cube is a cube" given the fact that they are one species and the necessary growing conditions are the same, and for 98% of cultivators it doesn't fucking matter, a cube is a cube.
But, I just don't buy the "fact" that there is no innate difference among them, ON AVERAGE, if taken as a whole population of that variety, due to varieties within their genetics/evolution/natural environments. Can any variety be a shit show, slow colonizer, horrible fruiter? Or the best set of genetics ever? Duh. I think that may be why "a cube is a cube" is so predominant. For the typical home cultivator, given the range of possible discrepancies, differences, and success/failures, any difference between varieties is negligible.
The number of variables involved with a home grow has led us to answer the question "how much can I expect to yield" with "anywhere from 0 to 100 ounces". Because who the fuck knows. Your MSS might not even have spores in it. Or it has different variety. Or it is contaminated.
A though experiment perhaps will helpSay in a universe where we could take an actual representative, fully comprehensive, scientific sample/data analysis of every variety, and analyse every aspect of growth and control for confounds, I would be shocked if there were not some statistically significant differences between varieties. There is not another species who shows that kind of homogeneity (I think that's a word?)
Again, I do not know the genetics or science behind this, but this is just my intuition from understanding other natural and biological processes.
[gradient:#E00909,#]If all races of cubes, or varieties, came from same lineage of psilocybe cubensis[/gradient]. Kinda like our common ancestor primate or whatever. They are all the same species, but essentially a different race of that species.
This is hypothetical and is simply trying to paint an image of how I am viewing this. The first cubensis variety that was separated from the OG cubensis could have only become a new variant of cubes if there were distinguishable differences. But it would not be simply one mushroom that became a new variety, because all mushrooms from spores have new genetics correct? To become a distinct variety, it would take the genetics over time shifting, due to environment, god, homer simpson, what have you, and it differentiated enough to be able to be classified as a distinct variety.
There are observable differences among the many varieties. These all came from an OG psilocybe cube, or perhaps aliens spawned 9 different OG variants to seed the planet millennia ago. I dont fucking know haha. But, there are clearly differences among the cubes that are able to be identified by the trained mycologist. How do differences, or variations within a species, occur in evolution?
Pressure.
Pressure caused by somewhat different environments. The fundamental environment to thrive remained a necessity, but across the planet slight variations in those growing environments certainly had some influence on fungal evolution. Right? If not, then fungi are unique to the rest of us and special.... which may be equally plausible

People who have been cultivating for years who seem to live and die by "a cube is a cube" I would argue are not adequate judges of this statement. Long time cultivators, albeit incredibly knowledgable on cultivating mushrooms, are not MycoGod or all-knowing experts on a species as complex and perplexing as cubes.
I am tempted to believe the difference among varieties is significant, yet minute enough it would take decades of growing from MSS with random genetics to have a feel for the nature of variant differences. Most growers quickly switch to clones/isolates, and at that point any judge of variation, or tendencies of certain varieties is no longer valid as you are not working with the natural order of things.
To figure this out, it would either take an all-knowing being to create a sample analysis of all cubensis varieties in the world and measurements on their growth. Or, a very in-depth, well designed, long term study of variants and their genetics and independent variables of the grow (colonization, fruiting, etc.).
So, if it does not matter for cultivators, why am I writing this incredibly long post? One, Adderal. Two, I do not fully believe it is in our best interest to ignore this possibility and simply keep going on with "a cube is a cube" (if my evaluation of where we are at as hobbyists in this mentality is not unfounded).
Why? Because mushrooms.
Exploration. Discovery. Maximizing potential. Not just the potential that lies within fungal genetics, but the potential that lies within our ability to appreciate, understand, cultivate, and connect with nature in a way other biological entities on this earth cannot.
If we did not ignore this but rather opened it up for discussion, analysis, experimentation, peer review (eventually hehe), then who knows where the hobby could go?
I could be making myself look even more like a newb with this post as it might be a well-established fact a cube is not just a cube, but that is what is said to calm down new cultivators. A lot of what I have read on here is old threads. So if that is the case, then I guess I am welcoming myself to the party.
If not, lets argue motherfucker

P.S. I tried my best to make this post pleasing to look at and not just words on words... gimme some time