# How many minutes in a quarter hour? What's 3x3x3? College students try (and fail) to answer the important questions of our time! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 24, 2025, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-minutes-in-a-quarter-hour-whats-3x3x3-college-students-try-and-fail-to-answer-the-important-questions-of-our-time/1023358 "2025-09-24T14:41:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2025, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-minutes-in-a-quarter-hour-whats-3x3x3-college-students-try-and-fail-to-answer-the-important-questions-of-our-time/1023358/41 "2025-09-26T01:53:33Z")
There are situations where people freeze up or overthink questions and can’t give correct answers, especially in pressure situations. A story about doctor/serial killer Michael Swango relates that as a med student, he was quizzed about what an image on a chest x-ray showed, and failed to give an answer. His fellow students chortled when the instructor said “That’s the heart, Mike.” An obvious answer, except that it’s natural in that situation to think there’s a subtle structure or finding in the area of the heart you’re being asked to determine, and can’t decide what it is. This incident was unfairly used IMO to deride his knowledge of medicine (his problems were on a much different basis). Hard to excuse the students in the video on such grounds though. Can’t name 3 countries other than the U.S.? Sheesh. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2025, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-minutes-in-a-quarter-hour-whats-3x3x3-college-students-try-and-fail-to-answer-the-important-questions-of-our-time/1023358/42 "2025-09-26T08:03:24Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Hard to excuse the students in the video on such grounds though. Can’t name 3 countries other than the U.S.? Sheesh. That would have been exactly my counterpoint to your preceding story. There are potentially two different phenomena here. One is that some otherwise intelligent people may have particular cognitive weaknesses – for example, mental arithmetic. The other thing is that sometimes a dumbass is just a dumbass, and there’s no excusing it. An adult attending college who can’t name three countries other than the USA (but who suggests “Africa” or “Europe” as one of them) has to be in the “dumbass” category – there’s just no getting away from it. I can be more sympathetic to getting flustered with a question about the sum of 77+33, because we’re conditioned to patterns like 7+3=10, but even there it’s hard to see the thought process of those who think the answer is 100 – it must surely register that if 70+30=100, then 77+33 must be more than that, even if you totally suck at mental arithmetic! In any case, all those geniuses who said that 3x3x3 is 9 have absolutely no excuse. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2025, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-minutes-in-a-quarter-hour-whats-3x3x3-college-students-try-and-fail-to-answer-the-important-questions-of-our-time/1023358/43 "2025-09-26T08:23:18Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > The “reporter” was mostly speaking to her on English, and decided to “quiz" her on her bilingualism with a whole bunch of “give me the French word for X” questions. They were mostly words with pretty similar terms: paper/papier, scissors/ciseaux, gum/gomme. > > The guy then throws out “paperclip” and she starts to answer “papier …” and realizes that’s not correct and stops. He keeps repeating the word “come on, you know the word for paperclip, everyone knows paperclip” and not really giving her room to think. She fails to recall the translation. So, basically the old playground trick: “Say most. Say ghost. Say roast. What do you put in a toaster?” (Or: “Say top. Say hop. Say cop. What do you do at a green light?”) ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2025, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-minutes-in-a-quarter-hour-whats-3x3x3-college-students-try-and-fail-to-answer-the-important-questions-of-our-time/1023358/44 "2025-09-26T11:47:18Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > That would have been exactly my counterpoint to your preceding story. There are potentially two different phenomena here. One is that some otherwise intelligent people may have particular cognitive weaknesses – for example, mental arithmetic. The other thing is that sometimes a dumbass is just a dumbass, and there’s no excusing it. An adult attending college who can’t name three countries other than the USA (but who suggests “Africa” or “Europe” as one of them) has to be in the “dumbass” category – there’s just no getting away from it. I teach geography to undergraduate Americans at a fair-to-middlin’ university. I attest that this is spot-on, ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2025, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-minutes-in-a-quarter-hour-whats-3x3x3-college-students-try-and-fail-to-answer-the-important-questions-of-our-time/1023358/45 "2025-09-26T13:21:33Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > > [@Reply](#): > > > > how many hours in a work-year? > > 2,080, not subtracting vacation/PTO. Cool way of remembering that it’s 2080. However, given the same question I would answer 1800, as that is the working time which remains after subtracting vacation and official holidays. (At my location, which has 5 weeks vacation and 2 weeks of official holidays.) ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2025, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-minutes-in-a-quarter-hour-whats-3x3x3-college-students-try-and-fail-to-answer-the-important-questions-of-our-time/1023358/46 "2025-09-26T13:37:51Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > The “reporter” was mostly speaking to her on English, and decided to “quiz" her on her bilingualism with a whole bunch of “give me the French word for X” questions. They were mostly words with pretty similar terms: paper/papier, scissors/ciseaux, gum/gomme. This is interesting, because in undergrad my major was Spanish. I started studying in the ninth grade and passed an intentionally difficult five hour proficiency exam my freshman year of college (the fail rate was 50%). I then went on to read everything from news articles to surrealist literature, in Spanish. My final term paper, in Spanish, was about the impact of NAFTA on Mexico’s economy. If you had asked me the Spanish word for _spoon,_ I would have been at a loss. The bulk of my experience speaking the language was academic. I didn’t really grasp that gap in my knowledge until I traveled to Mexico for two months. I did get by well enough, but there are a lot of basic vocab words I was lacking. And still am, frankly. It’s been a long time since I’ve spoken any Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2025, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-minutes-in-a-quarter-hour-whats-3x3x3-college-students-try-and-fail-to-answer-the-important-questions-of-our-time/1023358/47 "2025-09-26T13:49:28Z")
> [@Die\_Capacitrix](#): > > (At my location, which has 5 weeks vacation and 2 weeks of official holidays.) I’ll bet you have universal healthcare too. 😡 ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2025, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-minutes-in-a-quarter-hour-whats-3x3x3-college-students-try-and-fail-to-answer-the-important-questions-of-our-time/1023358/48 "2025-09-26T13:58:40Z")
I do! At least for now, until the government ruins it more. And also five weeks’ base vacation (with the option to rollover/purchase up to a total of 38 vacation days per year, _not_ counting sick days) and \< counts \> eight days of official holidays. This isn’t really on topic but I need _something_ to feel happy about. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2025, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-minutes-in-a-quarter-hour-whats-3x3x3-college-students-try-and-fail-to-answer-the-important-questions-of-our-time/1023358/49 "2025-09-26T16:53:41Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > What do you put in a toaster? …toast..? ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2025, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-minutes-in-a-quarter-hour-whats-3x3x3-college-students-try-and-fail-to-answer-the-important-questions-of-our-time/1023358/50 "2025-09-26T17:16:28Z")
Had a moment just today where I did an inspection on something and spoke French most of the time. I was relaying some details to a colleague later on in English, and blanked out on a word. I was looking for a single word translation to _accoter_ and mentally searching for a word starting with the “AK" sound, I guess. The words I was looking for was _lean against_. Fortunately my colleague is also a native Franglais speaker! ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2025, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-minutes-in-a-quarter-hour-whats-3x3x3-college-students-try-and-fail-to-answer-the-important-questions-of-our-time/1023358/51 "2025-09-26T17:25:07Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > mentally searching for a word Good user-post combo. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2025, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-minutes-in-a-quarter-hour-whats-3x3x3-college-students-try-and-fail-to-answer-the-important-questions-of-our-time/1023358/52 "2025-09-26T17:33:20Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > …toast..? No. discourse ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2025, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-minutes-in-a-quarter-hour-whats-3x3x3-college-students-try-and-fail-to-answer-the-important-questions-of-our-time/1023358/53 "2025-09-26T17:43:27Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > > [@Die\_Capacitrix](#): > > > > (At my location, which has 5 weeks vacation and 2 weeks of official holidays.) > > I’ll bet you have universal healthcare too. 😡 Most European workers typically get generous vacation time. Ironically, it’s American workers who need free health care the most, especially middle managers who are squeezed between unionized workers and the disconnected opulence of the C-suite, and tend to drop dead of heart attacks and other stress-related ailments. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2025, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-minutes-in-a-quarter-hour-whats-3x3x3-college-students-try-and-fail-to-answer-the-important-questions-of-our-time/1023358/54 "2025-09-26T17:58:07Z")
Another oldie along those lines was “How do you pronounce P-O-K-E? How do you pronounce F-O-L-K? How do you pronounce the word for the white of an egg?” This one is a little different though, because there isn’t really a common English word for this, other than “egg white”. The answer is usually given as “albumin” but that’s pretty rare in actual use. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2025, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-minutes-in-a-quarter-hour-whats-3x3x3-college-students-try-and-fail-to-answer-the-important-questions-of-our-time/1023358/55 "2025-09-26T18:48:29Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > > [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > > > What do you put in a toaster? > > …toast..? Stoat? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2025, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-minutes-in-a-quarter-hour-whats-3x3x3-college-students-try-and-fail-to-answer-the-important-questions-of-our-time/1023358/56 "2025-09-26T20:06:53Z")
Bagels ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2025, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-minutes-in-a-quarter-hour-whats-3x3x3-college-students-try-and-fail-to-answer-the-important-questions-of-our-time/1023358/57 "2025-09-26T21:22:34Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > … but this is even more amazing because these are kids who must have met some minimal college entrance qualifications and are in the process of being college educated. It’s not _that_ amazing. According to [https://www.pellinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/05.01.24ExecutiveSummary-MCNBHHMC-Indicators-2024.pdf](https://www.pellinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/05.01.24ExecutiveSummary-MCNBHHMC-Indicators-2024.pdf) “… In 2022, an estimated 79 percent of 18-to-24-year-olds from the highest family income quartile enrolled in postsecondary education …” - the 21th percentile of IQ is at 88 points, and those 79% enrolling in college would not be identical the brightest 79%. So, among college students from wealthy families, I’d expect finding some with an IQ of 80 if I cast my net wide enough. > [@wolfpup](#): > > … > > Questions like “if you were born 7 years ago, how old would you be today?” are not exercises in deep mathematical or logical analysis! Just a nitpick: in some East Asian cultures it is not as trivial as that. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2025, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-minutes-in-a-quarter-hour-whats-3x3x3-college-students-try-and-fail-to-answer-the-important-questions-of-our-time/1023358/58 "2025-09-26T21:39:03Z")
> [@Mops](#): > > in some East Asian cultures it is not as trivial as that. You mean the ones who believe in reincarnation rather than straightforward logical meaning of a simple question? ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2025, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-minutes-in-a-quarter-hour-whats-3x3x3-college-students-try-and-fail-to-answer-the-important-questions-of-our-time/1023358/59 "2025-09-26T21:41:54Z")
No - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East\_Asian\_age\_reckoning](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Asian_age_reckoning) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2025, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-minutes-in-a-quarter-hour-whats-3x3x3-college-students-try-and-fail-to-answer-the-important-questions-of-our-time/1023358/60 "2025-09-26T21:57:35Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > …toast..? Nope. Bread. Or Pop-tarts, or a bunch of legit toaster foods. Bagels, English muffins. All before being toasted. But that is the point of the trick of course. Altho I dont doubt many people are not that smart (not just Americans mind you). YouTube Vids are not in any way evidence of that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-minutes-in-a-quarter-hour-whats-3x3x3-college-students-try-and-fail-to-answer-the-important-questions-of-our-time/1023358.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-minutes-in-a-quarter-hour-whats-3x3x3-college-students-try-and-fail-to-answer-the-important-questions-of-our-time/1023358.md?page=4)