# What Would Non-Cubers Guess for the 3x3x3 Single World Record?



## Fobo911 (Oct 22, 2008)

I'm just wondering what non-cubers would guess to be the 3x3x3 world record for the single solve (7.08) if they never had any knowledge of the record books on that. I'm guessing maybe the average guess would be around 10-15 seconds.

What about you guys? What do you think would non-cubers would mostly guess for?

This is partly for an AP Statistics project, and I'm also a little curious about how non-cubers view our world as.


----------



## McWizzle94 (Oct 22, 2008)

Most people I know guess around 15 seconds. Anyway, it's probably not the best idea to find non-cubers in a speedcubing forum........


----------



## Fobo911 (Oct 22, 2008)

I know. I was just wondering what the non-cubers' guesses would be from the speed-cubers' points of view.


----------



## PatrickJameson (Oct 22, 2008)

Most people that I come across think it's like 5 seconds.


----------



## Kit Clement (Oct 22, 2008)

This would be kinda interesting if we polled people about this.


----------



## cmhardw (Oct 22, 2008)

kippy33 said:


> This would be kinda interesting if we polled people about this.



I usually hear about superhero friends who can solve in 5 seconds. Also, sometimes people, after seeing me solve, say that I solved it in 5 seconds (I wish).

I would say that most non-cubers would guess either 5 or 10 seconds since they are psychologically "nice" numbers.

Chris


----------



## ThePizzaGuy92 (Oct 22, 2008)

someone once said his friend can do it in 4 seconds, so he must think the world record is in the negitives. haha


----------



## mrbiggs (Oct 22, 2008)

Sometimes people ask me what the fastest is and I say 7 seconds, and they're generally blown away by that number.


----------



## siva.shanmukh (Oct 22, 2008)

Yes! this is what generally happens. And they append a comment at the end saying something like the world champion in that case can solve it while they are yawning and won't believe it. then i have to show them the video!!!


----------



## Dene (Oct 22, 2008)

Probably 0.01 seconds, because people are stupid.


----------



## Rubixcubematt (Oct 22, 2008)

i think most people think it is about 10 secs. that was what i did and others around me as well


----------



## *LukeMayn* (Oct 22, 2008)

most people in my clas would say 6 secs because in my speech(about heroes) , I couldn't think of a hero, so I choose Nakaji and my speech contained the 6sec solve of his on youtube (6.57 to be exact )


----------



## Ellis (Oct 22, 2008)

Theres only one time that I could gauge a question like that... I had a cube out at work and my manager said "some people can solve those things in like 30 seconds" (suggesting those were the fastest times). I said: thats nothing... and did it for him in 20 seconds. Judging by the look on his face afterwards, I think something important popped in his brain.


----------



## cubeRemi (Oct 22, 2008)

if I say I'm a cuber people normally say something like:
"I saw someone on tv who could always do it in like 5sec." 
then I'm thinking, "never mind"


----------



## Skrato (Oct 22, 2008)

People always exaggerate what times I get when I solve it. I was approached by someone saying I could solve it in 5 seconds, while my actual best time ever was 15.


----------



## maltew (Oct 22, 2008)

everytime i get my cube out of my bag people say something like, "there actually are people who can solve this in a minute or so!" nobody ever guessed a time sub 30.


----------



## Joël (Oct 22, 2008)

Many people I meet don't understand how anyone can solve it in seconds, many think it's at least one minute.


----------



## pjk (Oct 22, 2008)

When I started, I was thinking no less than 30 seconds. When I heard of the 11.13 being set, I thought it was a pre-set cube, and all the person needed to do was twist it into place. So I can't blame people for thinking about odd times.


----------



## toast (Oct 22, 2008)

Most people I've come across, think it's 5 seconds, 2 minutes (because their friend can do it that fast) or I'm the world record holder with a 20 second average.


----------



## guusrs (Oct 22, 2008)

Only a few months ago I met someone who sead that some people can dot it within 10 minutes!

20 -30 seconds is most common for non-cubers.

When I say 7 seconds they won't believe.


----------



## Laurentius (Oct 22, 2008)

When I averaged 50 sec my friend thought that was the world record.. But he's generally stupid

Also, a guy in my class tells me a guy on YouTube solved it in 7 seconds behind his back.. And I said that's impossible, a blindfold solve in 7 seconds has never happened.. But he kept swearing it was true..


----------



## Neutrals01 (Oct 22, 2008)

I solve cubes around 25 secs and the people that first time watch me solve..some say...wow,so fast..this guy surely can enter the world championships.. and then I told them... I think I can't even enter top 1000... lol..and they are shocked like..25 seconds not fast enough? then I told them that below 13 seconds average only counted pro.. above 20 seconds are just average cubers..

so I think that non-cubers most probably think that world record around 15 seconds or so..


----------



## shelley (Oct 22, 2008)

Given the number of people who swear they've seen someone solve it in 5 seconds, I would say their guesses would be significantly below the actual record.


----------



## Neutrals01 (Oct 22, 2008)

Like some ppl in my sch said that some other guy in my sch can solve in 15~20+ secs.. that time I was around 40+ secs..so I was amazed and want to look for this 20+ secs guy.. when I found him...actually he is around 1 min 10~20 secs+ =.=" non-cubers really have great estimation of time..


----------



## Swoncen (Oct 22, 2008)

I think there are 2 kinds of people..

one group really thinks of solving the cube and they think that solving the cube means solving it intuitively every time.. so they say something in the order of minutes... and the other group of people just want to know better and the say like 5 seconds.


----------



## Rabid (Oct 22, 2008)

I was cubing outside the transit center and a guy sat down next to me and said “some people can solve it in like a minute”. I said I was faster than that and showed him a few solves. Some gang-bangers started cussing about beating up the tattoo lady and he glanced over at them. 
“WHAT THE F*CK YOU LOOK’N AT! DON’T F*CK’N LOOK AT ME!” 
He turned back to my cube and I showed him some block building, and then let him try it. The banger walked up with a cigarette and got a foot from his face “What are you doing?” and blew smoke in his face. The guy kept turning.
“Rubik..” I said. 
Banger blew more smoke in the guys face, shook his head and walked off.

I’m glad he didn’t grab my cube; confrontation sucks. 


So..about a minute?


----------



## Escher (Oct 22, 2008)

some people are really accurate actually...
one person asked about the record and they reckoned it was about 8s.
and when i solved one in front of them (i knew it was a rubbish solve) they were like 'wow, i cant believe you can do it in like 30s', and i had a feeling they were completely right...
spooky.


----------



## Koen (Oct 22, 2008)

someone asked me once if I was one of those people who can solve it in 15 minutes ^^


----------



## fanwuq (Oct 22, 2008)

Dene said:


> Probably 0.01 seconds, because people are stupid.



Wrong first part, sometimes true second part:

There are several types of people.

1. They think I just broke the WR with a 20 second solve. They would claim: 
A. "Wow he just solved in 5 seconds!"
B. "Wow he just solved in 3 minutes!"
2. They have an uncle who is at 10 seconds.
3. These things can be solved!?
4. Before I solve, "you know, some people can do these things in like 2 minutes."


----------



## CAT13 (Oct 22, 2008)

A few types of people:
firstly, the "I thought those were impossible!" people
second, the "I heard that this one guy could solve it in under a minute!" people
third, the "They have competitions for that?!" people
fourth, the "Two seconds!" people
fifth, the people who have a decent guess


----------



## Escher (Oct 22, 2008)

6th, "i always thought it was easier to take the stickers off and put them back on in the right order"


----------



## Hadley4000 (Oct 22, 2008)

One I recently heard.
"But the world record is like, a minute how could you do it in less than 20?!?"


----------



## CAT13 (Oct 22, 2008)

I should start lying to people  I should tell them the world record is two minutes, then bust out a 20 second solve. Then they would be like, ""


----------



## Jebediah54 (Oct 22, 2008)

Pretty much everybody I show it to can hardly believe their eyes, and always make a comment about taking the stickers off or taking it apart. If people ask the WR, I ask them to guess and it's normally around 20 seconds or so, with a few people guessing around 10 and one guy guessed 7-8. When I do a solve for them they always freak out saying that I solved it in 15 seconds or so...


----------



## Laetitia (Oct 23, 2008)

"What's the world record?"
"7.08"
"7 minutes? woah, if I'd try, it'd take me 7 years"
"no, 7 seconds"
".... oO"

Lots of people, when I make a 20 sec solve, think that I'm one of the best speedcubers in the world 
Actually, even when I made 40 sec solves, people thougt that I was one of the best in the world.


----------



## Sa967St (Oct 23, 2008)

after Erik broke the WR I told some of my friends that there was a new WR and I asked them to guess what it was and they both said 5 seconds


----------



## ThePizzaGuy92 (Oct 23, 2008)

do you guys every get people who say things like "It usually takes me a few hours", but you know they're full of it?


----------



## qqwref (Oct 23, 2008)

Yeah, I think (in general) anyone who mentions a time over an hour is lying and they just want it to look like they could solve it themselves, just in a very long time. But the truth is, I don't think most people could just sit down and spend a couple of hours on it, simply because few young people nowadays have that kind of attention span or are willing to spend that much time thinking. It's not that solving a cube is only possible if you're very smart, but rather that to solve it starting from no knowledge of the cube you have to be patient and determined (and interested in the cube already!). It's probably fair to say that the vast majority of people out there would give it a serious try even though they might say they could solve it in some number of hours/days/years.

Of course what non-cubers never realize is that when you do a solve you're not figuring it out as you go but just executing a method that you're familiar with. Even if you use a fully intuitive method like Heise or basic corners first you still know what to do before you even pick the cube up. Anyone who's cubed for a while should also have a pretty good grasp of the cube's mechanics, that is, what types of pieces there are, how a turn moves the pieces around, and how to put pieces together through basic blockbuilding. So maybe when we're all talking to non-cubers, we should emphasize that after a while of playing with a cube you really understand it a lot better, and solving it (even without the aid of pre-memorized sequences) becomes rather easy indeed


----------



## mrbiggs (Oct 23, 2008)

A lot of people say that there's a "pattern" to it; a few moves which you do over and over until it's solved, so smaller times are a matter of dexterity. I get this a lot, and I have a hard time correcting people, because it is in fact a mixture of "patterns" in the brainless sense, true problem solving, and problem solving which has been made fairly brainless due to repetition.


----------



## MistArts (Oct 24, 2008)

mrbiggs said:


> A lot of people say that there's a "pattern" to it; a few moves which you do over and over until it's solved, so smaller times are a matter of dexterity. I get this a lot, and I have a hard time correcting people, because it is in fact a mixture of "patterns" in the brainless sense, true problem solving, and problem solving which has been made fairly brainless due to repetition.



Actually, my theory is that if you repeat a long series of moves (all six faces) for a lot (I mean like millions) of times, then it can be solved.


----------



## fanwuq (Oct 24, 2008)

MistArts said:


> mrbiggs said:
> 
> 
> > A lot of people say that there's a "pattern" to it; a few moves which you do over and over until it's solved, so smaller times are a matter of dexterity. I get this a lot, and I have a hard time correcting people, because it is in fact a mixture of "patterns" in the brainless sense, true problem solving, and problem solving which has been made fairly brainless due to repetition.
> ...



I doubt your hypothesis. But if it would be true, then you only need to repeat 5 faces.
http://cube.garron.us/algorithms.htm


----------



## MistArts (Oct 24, 2008)

fanwuq said:


> MistArts said:
> 
> 
> > mrbiggs said:
> ...



I know already, but that causes a lot more turns.


----------



## jcuber (Oct 24, 2008)

Most people I meet think it's either a minute or 30s, but when they see me solve they say I should compete.. Yea right! I'm not even close to comp. level!


----------



## cmhardw (Oct 24, 2008)

MistArts said:


> mrbiggs said:
> 
> 
> > A lot of people say that there's a "pattern" to it; a few moves which you do over and over until it's solved, so smaller times are a matter of dexterity. I get this a lot, and I have a hard time correcting people, because it is in fact a mixture of "patterns" in the brainless sense, true problem solving, and problem solving which has been made fairly brainless due to repetition.
> ...



If you really want to get into the theory of this, it is called "Devil's algorithm" and must have a minimum of 43252003274489855999 moves to cycle through all possible permutations exactly once (counting the first permutation before you began doing moves). If an algorithm of this length exists, then assuming you get a random scramble you have to do either 0 moves of Devil's Algorithm, 1 move, ... , 43252003274489855999 moves to solve the cube again.

The probability that you reach the solved state in x number of moves (where x is greater than or equal to zero) is 1/43252003274489856000.

So the expected number of turns is 21 626001 637244 927999.5 +- 12 485777 866758 646693.4

Or 21.6 quintillion turns +- 12 quintillion turns.

So yes you can repeat a long series of twists over and over and bring the cube back to solved, but it would take you about 21.6 quintillion turns to bring it back to solved. +- 12 quintillion ;-)

Basically, what you said is definitely possible (assuming a Devil's algorithm exists with only 1 turn per cube state) but your estimate of doing millions and millions of turns is an understatement to say the least.

Chris


----------



## scottp45 (Oct 24, 2008)

Most people I know think one minute is amazing. I pull mine out and do it in 45 seconds, people think I'm amazing, and should compete. Boy would I get my A** kicked...


----------



## *LukeMayn* (Oct 24, 2008)

I JUST FOUND THE FUNNIEST THING!!!
This was on nakaji's 11.66 OH vid


> i could do it in less than 4 secs but i forgot how to the SPECIAL TURNS


haha what a loser >.<


----------



## Cyber (Oct 24, 2008)

I did some kinda of enquiry and I got this...
30+ - - none
30-20 - 4
20-10 - 20
10- - - 6

U know the right answer


----------



## ImNOTnoob (Oct 24, 2008)

Well... I asked cubers in my class who are sub-5 minutes...
They thought the world record was a minute...
I just pulled out my own cube and did a 25 second solve in front of them.

They were like... OMG can teach me how to twist fast????

Well... another friend thought the record was 22.95 seconds, as stated in the hint booklet that came with my old and first cube..


----------



## adragast (Oct 24, 2008)

My non-cuber friends generally think the world record is about a minute.
A lot of them also say they were able to solve the cube when they were young but it took a lot of time and they forgot how to do it. I tried to teach one of them how to solve it so he could solve it again. He gave up because he was not able to make a cross (I was showing him how to make a cross in two steps like in the video of rubiks.com).
On their defence (for the first part), I am personally amazed by the current world record and by how fast people can be. If I was not a cuber, I am quite sure I would not believe that someone could be sub 10 without being especially lucky (well sub one minute at all).


----------



## Ellis (Oct 24, 2008)

adragast said:


> My non-cuber friends generally think the world record is about a minute.
> A lot of them also say they were able to solve the cube when they were young but it took a lot of time and they forgot how to do it. I tried to teach one of them how to solve it so he could solve it again. He gave up because he was not able to make a cross (I was showing him how to make a cross in two steps like in the video of rubiks.com).
> On their defence (for the first part), I am personally amazed by the current world record and by how fast people can be. If I was not a cuber, I am quite sure I would not believe that someone could be sub 10 without being especially lucky (well sub one minute at all).


Hey adragast, I was looking on the main page and it says its your birthday, happy birthday man!!! I actually only saw it because your name is right next to mine, but still, happy birthday


----------



## somerandomkidmike (Oct 24, 2008)

i've heard people say stuff like:

I heard that this one guy did it in 30 seconds
as far as I know the world record is like 10 seconds
people can do it like 20 seconds right?
i saw a video on youtube of this guy that did it in 6 seconds

and the craziest of all when i was on the bus i heard (exact words):

This one person, he took the rubik's cube, gave it to a person guy person and mixing it. He looked at it for 2 seconds and solved it behind his back in 4 seconds.


----------



## Neroflux (Oct 24, 2008)

somerandomkidmike said:


> i saw a video on youtube of this guy that did it in 6 seconds



that's true.


----------



## somerandomkidmike (Oct 24, 2008)

Neroflux said:


> somerandomkidmike said:
> 
> 
> > i saw a video on youtube of this guy that did it in 6 seconds
> ...



yes i know it is... but it's still not an official record... but you're right


----------



## qinwamascot (Oct 25, 2008)

I've heard anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 seconds, with most responses falling in the 10-15 second range.


----------



## riffz (Oct 28, 2008)

My friend told me about this kid in his class who solved a 5x5 in 30 seconds...


----------



## fcwy1 (Oct 29, 2008)

here is a views of 8 people i surveyed
1. around 8-10
2. 22sec
3. 25-27sec
4. 1min
5. 9sec
6. just below 1min
7. 40-50sec
8. 30sec


----------



## Crickets (Oct 30, 2008)

I seen some video of a guy saying he was the WR holder at 28 secs and this was how he solved the rubik's cube. It was just made to be a funny vid but alot of people thought he was serious.


----------



## Fobo911 (Oct 31, 2008)

Crickets said:


> I seen some video of a guy saying he was the WR holder at 28 secs and this was how he solved the rubik's cube. It was just made to be a funny vid but alot of people thought he was serious.



Yeah, I've seen the video.





It makes me chuckle that people would actually respond seriously to this video as if he was not joking. Oh well.


----------

