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The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
This is almost certainly the freakiest thing I have ever done/witnessed. My mother-in-law gave me a "Soduku cube" for christmas, which is like a Rubik's cube, except that it has 6 sets of numbers from 1-9 rather than 6 sets of 9 identical blocks of color. The object is to put the numerals 1-9 on each face. When she gave it to me, it was mixed up.
Now, I don't really have any interest in Soduku. I have not attempted to "solve" the cube. However, since she gave it to me on December 27th, it has sat next to my computer, and I occasionally pick it up and rotate it for a few minutes. Note that I have NOT tried to solve it; I just rotate it endlessly as a nervous thing to do with my hands. I've probably rotated it several hundred to a thousand times in the past 2 weeks. So I'm doing that today, not 10 minutes ago, and I happen to look down and notice that the "top" face is "solved"; all numerals 1-9. I showed my wife and wondered, "What are the odds of that?" I turned it over and looked at the "bottom" face and realized it too was solved. I then looked at the sides and realized that with a single 90 degree rotation of the "top" plane, the entire cube was solved. In other words, I solved the damn thing by accident. Now, I have not attempted any sort of probabilistic analysis of this thing to check just how unlikely it is. I do know that it is possible to "solve" one face and not solve the entire cube many different ways. It would seem on the face of it that this is spectacularly, astronomically unlikely. I have to tell you I am slightly freaked out by this. I understand that the "solved" configuration is no more unlikely than any random configuration, just as a royal flush in spades is no more unlikely to be dealt than any five particular random cards. There are 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 possible configurations of the cube. As far as I know, only one of these is "solved" correctly. And before you say it, I would cry bull [censored] as well. Unfortunately, this actually happened. So, what is the most unlikely/improbable/miraculous [censored] you've ever witnessed? http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c1...g/DSC02243.jpg |
Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
I'd wager the human mind is incredibly more complex than we realize.
That said, I'd also say that it's possible you were actually solving the puzzle subconsciously (semi-consciously?) |
Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
dude you are like a physicist or something, i'm sure you just did it by accident.
but you're an anarchist too, so you can't be THAT smart. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] yeah pretty unlikely the craziest thing i ever saw or did was probably fall asleep on the Taconic Parkway and hit one of maybe three guardrails on the entire northern stretch of that road instead of a big rock or cliff or something. lucky me. |
Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
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I'd wager the human mind is incredibly more complex than we realize. That said, I'd also say that it's possible you were actually solving the puzzle subconsciously (semi-consciously?) [/ QUOTE ] Not a chance in hell. I usually don't even LOOK at the thing when playing with it. It is a total nervous keep-my-hands-busy thing. If I had not looked down when I did, I would have zoomed right through the "solved" state and never realized it. |
Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
there's probably more than one congifuration that is solved.
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Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
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Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
Cliff Notes: Your mother in law doesn't really like you or think you're remotely good enough for her daughter.
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Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
[ QUOTE ]
there's probably more than one congifuration that is solved. [/ QUOTE ] If anyone could confirm this, I would appreciate it. But how many possible "solved" configurations can there be out of 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 total possible configurations? |
Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
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Cliff Notes: Your mother in law doesn't really like you or think you're remotely good enough for her daughter. [/ QUOTE ] No, she thinks I'm the shiznit. She's always buying me puzzles, which is usually a good bet; I just have no interest in Soduku. Sudoku? Suduko? Sodomy? |
Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
i've done and witnessed many amazing things in my life. here is the most recent:
the other day around 3am i was sitting on the couch with my roommate watching ali g. i was a little out of it at the time. i had a beer cap in my hand, but i was just palming it. for no reason i decide to wing it at this cheeto-s bucket up by the tv stand, as hard and as fast as i could. it takes a sick flight pattern and drains in almost unseen it was moving so quick. we are amazed by this, and i jump off the couch. my friend is amazed, and then more amazed as i am showing him how i was palming it with another cap. standing even further away, i now wing this one as hard as i possibly can just in the general direction of the bucket. it takes a sick flight path and dings in as well and we go crazy. we estimate that if i threw 100 caps from the first spot at top speed i would be lucky to make 1 of them. from the second spot, maybe 1 in 500. so it was ~50,000 - 1 against draining them both 2/2. i decided that night it would be best to not throw another beercap at the bucket at top speed, because if it went in, our heads would have exploded. i may give it a go later tonight though. maybe it is a latent superpower. |
Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
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[ QUOTE ] there's probably more than one congifuration that is solved. [/ QUOTE ] If anyone could confirm this, I would appreciate it. But how many possible "solved" configurations can there be out of 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 total possible configurations? [/ QUOTE ] If that is the number, I would say that it is extremely likely you subconsciously did this. Regardless, either scenario is amazing. |
Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
snagglepuss,
I would just like to say that I think your avatar is awesome. |
Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
Perhaps you are a god among men.
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Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
OK, for the hockey players. I go outdoor skating with some friends often. We have a game where we have to hit the crossbar with a slapshot to win the game.
1st we did it from center ice, 1st person to hit the crossbar (not easy to do!) wins the money but the other guy gets 1 shot to also hit it to force a tie. My buddy hits it, I hit it in the next shot to tie. Then I go to the OPPOSITE blueline and say "watch this". I take 1 shot and ding, right off the crossbar. Everyone was speechless. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] |
Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
Where did you get your 43.... number from? Are you taking into account things like the 5s will never move, possibly other situations that I'm not going to think out?
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Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
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[ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] there's probably more than one congifuration that is solved. [/ QUOTE ] If anyone could confirm this, I would appreciate it. But how many possible "solved" configurations can there be out of 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 total possible configurations? [/ QUOTE ] If that is the number, I would say that it is extremely likely you subconsciously did this. Regardless, either scenario is amazing. [/ QUOTE ] The vast majority of rotations were made without ever looking at the cube. I have no idea how to even begin to go about solving it even if I was trying. I haven't solved a regular Rubik's cube in close to 20 years. |
Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
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If anyone could confirm this, I would appreciate it. But how many possible "solved" configurations can there be out of 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 total possible configurations? [/ QUOTE ] 43,252,003,274,489,856,000, its a gag gift. [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] Go to the playboy mansion lately? [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] |
Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
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Where did you get your 43.... number from? Are you taking into account things like the 5s will never move, possibly other situations that I'm not going to think out? [/ QUOTE ] It's the same thing as a Rubik's cube, and I pulled that number off the wiki Rubik's Cube page for the number of reachable configurations of a 3x3x3 cube. |
Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
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Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
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[ QUOTE ] If anyone could confirm this, I would appreciate it. But how many possible "solved" configurations can there be out of 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 total possible configurations? [/ QUOTE ] 43,252,003,274,489,856,000, its a gag gift. [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] Go to the playboy mansion lately? [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] [/ QUOTE ] Not since the last time. The wife couldn't get me invited to the Halloween Party. I apparently have too many penises and not enough breasts. |
Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
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Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
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Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIQhg0D5m6M [/ QUOTE ] i knew what it was before i clicked. GOLD this one's not bad either: web page EDIT: or this one web page |
Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
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Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
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[ QUOTE ] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIQhg0D5m6M [/ QUOTE ] i knew what it was before i clicked. GOLD [/ QUOTE ] The reaction of the crowd in the foreground is so lol. |
Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
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[ QUOTE ] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIQhg0D5m6M [/ QUOTE ] i knew what it was before i clicked. GOLD this one's not bad either: web page [/ QUOTE ] hahahhahah to win the game??? very nice |
Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
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Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
Your Sudoku cube miracle easily eclipses anything in my experience.
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Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
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Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
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Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
luck,
hush! |
Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
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It's not supposed to look like this? http://img454.imageshack.us/img454/1056/win18nz8.gif [/ QUOTE ] I have no idea. As far as I knew you just needed to get each side to have the numerals 1-9. Mine is gray with white numbers, so it may be a different manufacturer. Edit: Yeah, it looks like there must be more than 1 solved state. If you look at the location and orientation of each numeral, they are all the same. 1 upper right, 2 upper middle, 3 upper right, 4 left middle, 5 in the center, etc. So now I want to know, how many "solved" states are there; not the "metasolved" state with all the numbers in order, but just solved according to Soduku rules, with each face containing the numbers 1-9. If we can ascertain that this was not miraculously unlikely, I'll have a lot easier time getting to sleep. |
Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
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Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] It's not supposed to look like this? http://img454.imageshack.us/img454/1056/win18nz8.gif [/ QUOTE ] I have no idea. As far as I knew you just needed to get each side to have the numerals 1-9. Mine is gray with white numbers, so it may be a different manufacturer. Edit: Yeah, it looks like there must be more than 1 solved state. If you look at the location and orientation of each numeral, they are all the same. 1 upper right, 2 upper middle, 3 upper right, 4 left middle, 5 in the center, etc. So now I want to know, how many "solved" states are there; not the "metasolved" state with all the numbers in order, but just solved according to Soduku rules, with each face containing the numbers 1-9. If we can ascertain that this was not miraculously unlikely, I'll have a lot easier time getting to sleep. [/ QUOTE ] We could have a problem here... isn't this game played with numbers 1-9 only? I'm thinking your cube may just be in 1 of its many unsolved states [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] |
Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
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[ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] It's not supposed to look like this? http://img454.imageshack.us/img454/1056/win18nz8.gif [/ QUOTE ] I have no idea. As far as I knew you just needed to get each side to have the numerals 1-9. Mine is gray with white numbers, so it may be a different manufacturer. Edit: Yeah, it looks like there must be more than 1 solved state. If you look at the location and orientation of each numeral, they are all the same. 1 upper right, 2 upper middle, 3 upper right, 4 left middle, 5 in the center, etc. So now I want to know, how many "solved" states are there; not the "metasolved" state with all the numbers in order, but just solved according to Soduku rules, with each face containing the numbers 1-9. If we can ascertain that this was not miraculously unlikely, I'll have a lot easier time getting to sleep. [/ QUOTE ] We could have a problem here... isn't this game played with numbers 1-9 only? I'm thinking your cube may just be in 1 of its many unsolved states [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] [/ QUOTE ] There seem to be many more state where the numberals do NOT appear exactly once on each face than there are states where they do. |
Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
There are 9! combinations of how 1 through 9 could be arranged so presumably the puzzle could be in a solved state for each of those 9! unique arrangements.
9! = 362,880. Assuming your prior "total" possible states is correct, you are 43252003274489493120 to 362880 or... 119,190,926,131,199 to 1 to have a random arrangement of the cube be in a solved state. Hmmm....not quite as rare as you originally thought...but - um - yeah.....still rarer than almost anything I could imagine. |
Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
It looks like Borodog hit a straight flush but the pic that Luckofthedraw posted is the royal flush.
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Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
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[ QUOTE ] I'd wager the human mind is incredibly more complex than we realize. That said, I'd also say that it's possible you were actually solving the puzzle subconsciously (semi-consciously?) [/ QUOTE ] Not a chance in hell. I usually don't even LOOK at the thing when playing with it. It is a total nervous keep-my-hands-busy thing. If I had not looked down when I did, I would have zoomed right through the "solved" state and never realized it. [/ QUOTE ] then maybe this isn't your first time solving it. [img]/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img] |
Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
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There are 9! combinations of how 1 through 9 could be arranged so presumably the puzzle could be in a solved state for each of those 9! unique arrangements. 9! = 362,880. Assuming your prior "total" possible states is correct, you are 43252003274489493120 to 362880 or... 119,190,926,131,199 to 1 to have a random arrangement of the cube be in a solved state. Hmmm....not quite as rare as you originally thought...but - um - yeah.....still rarer than almost anything I could imagine. [/ QUOTE ] Thanks. I have high hopes that someone can show that it is even vastly more likely than this, but I'm off to bed. |
Re: The most improbable thing you\'ve ever seen?
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] It's not supposed to look like this? http://img454.imageshack.us/img454/1056/win18nz8.gif [/ QUOTE ] I have no idea. As far as I knew you just needed to get each side to have the numerals 1-9. Mine is gray with white numbers, so it may be a different manufacturer. Edit: Yeah, it looks like there must be more than 1 solved state. If you look at the location and orientation of each numeral, they are all the same. 1 upper right, 2 upper middle, 3 upper right, 4 left middle, 5 in the center, etc. So now I want to know, how many "solved" states are there; not the "metasolved" state with all the numbers in order, but just solved according to Soduku rules, with each face containing the numbers 1-9. If we can ascertain that this was not miraculously unlikely, I'll have a lot easier time getting to sleep. [/ QUOTE ] We could have a problem here... isn't this game played with numbers 1-9 only? I'm thinking your cube may just be in 1 of its many unsolved states [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] [/ QUOTE ] There seem to be many more state where the numberals do NOT appear exactly once on each face than there are states where they do. [/ QUOTE ] What I was driving at (sorry for the confusion) was are you sure you know exactly what the solved state is supposed to look like |
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