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If Richard Feynman applied for a job at Microsoft (2002)

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Re: If Richard Feynman applied for a job at Microsoft (2002)

#31

Post by klochner »

ax0n wrote: post #27
klochner wrote: post #10

Feynman or not, it's entertaining to anyone who has waded through several hours of contrived interview questions that supposedly relate to programming ability, and that always have a "right" answer.

I had a four hour long interview for a systems programming/administration position where plebeian admins were allowed to grill me for about 25% of the time, asking me to whiteboard viable algorithms for cute little problems they concocted. All of my solutions would have functioned flawlessly and would have met all of the stated requirements, but they didn't involve the same thought processes that the interviewers had…

I had a similar experience, asked to design a sudoku solver.

Coming from an AI background, I coded up an algorithm for state-space search.

They were expecting me to approach it as a person would, reasoning about how you rule out certain numbers (the constraint propagation), which is a second-order consideration for a game the size of sudoku.

I felt pretty smug when Peter Norvig shortly thereafter put up a blog post that essentially mirrored my solution.

Re: If Richard Feynman applied for a job at Microsoft (2002)

#32

Post by sspencer »

27182818284 wrote: post #12
mcknz wrote: post #9

Of course TRWTF is that he's applying for a job at Microsoft.

Well its not real, but also it wouldn't be that crazy I don't think. I mean it is weird they would interview him, but he was a computer and then later actually worked on computers (the machines) http://www.longnow.org/essays/richard-feynman-connection-mac...

Wonderful essay. I especially love this:

I remember a conversation we had a year or so before his death, walking in the hills above Pasadena. We were exploring an unfamiliar trail and Richard, recovering from a major operation for the cancer, was walking more slowly than usual. He was telling a long and funny story about how he had been reading up on his disease and surprising his doctors by predicting their diagnosis and his chances of survival. I was hearing for the first time how far his cancer had progressed, so the jokes did not seem so funny. He must have noticed my mood, because he suddenly stopped the story and asked, "Hey, what's the matter?"

I hesitated. "I'm sad because you're going to die."

"Yeah," he sighed, "that bugs me sometimes too. But not so much as you think." And after a few more steps, "When you get as old as I am, you start to realize that you've told most of the good stuff you know to other people anyway."

We walked along in silence for a few minutes. Then we came to a place where another trail crossed and Richard stopped to look around at the surroundings. Suddenly a grin lit up his face. "Hey," he said, all trace of sadness forgotten, "I bet I can show you a better way home."

And so he did.

Re: If Richard Feynman applied for a job at Microsoft (2002)

#33

Post by mynameishere »

eru wrote: post #4
27182818284 wrote: post #3

This comes up every now and then on social websites and every time I completely disagree that it reads like Feynman or that Feynman would react that way.

His name has become a kind of strawman.

A ficitonal interloculor to whom one attributes poor arguments in order to easily refute them?

Re: If Richard Feynman applied for a job at Microsoft (2002)

#34

Post by rikthevik »

ax0n wrote: post #27
klochner wrote: post #10

Feynman or not, it's entertaining to anyone who has waded through several hours of contrived interview questions that supposedly relate to programming ability, and that always have a "right" answer.

I had a four hour long interview for a systems programming/administration position where plebeian admins were allowed to grill me for about 25% of the time, asking me to whiteboard viable algorithms for cute little problems they concocted. All of my solutions would have functioned flawlessly and would have met all of the stated requirements, but they didn't involve the same thought processes that the interviewers had…

As much as they're interviewing you, you're interviewing them as well. If you're a smart guy, you hopefully have enough prospects that if you don't want to work with pedantic nitwits, you don't have to.

Re: If Richard Feynman applied for a job at Microsoft (2002)

#35

Post by mikedmiked »

davidw wrote: post #18

Reminds me of the bit in Cryptonomicon where Lawrence Waterhouse takes an intelligence test for the navy: "They gave him an intelligence test. The first question on the math part had to do with boats on a river: Port Smith is 100 miles upstream of Port Jones. The river flows at 5 miles per hour. The boat goes through water at 10 miles per hour. How long does it take to go from Port Smith to Port Jones? How long to co…

Similarly, though not as funny, from "The Legend of John Von Neumann" - http://stepanov.lk.net/mnemo/legende.html

'Then there is the famous fly puzzle. Two bicyclists start twenty miles apart and head toward each other, each going at a steady rate of 10 m.p.h. At the same time a fly that travels at a steady 15 m.p.h. starts from the front wheel of the southbound bicycle and flies to the front wheel of the northbound one, then turns around and flies to the front wheel of the southbound one again, and continues in this manner till he is crushed between the two front wheels. Question: what total distance did the fly cover ? The slow way to find the answer is to calculate what distance the fly covers on the first, northbound, leg of the trip, then on the second, southbound, leg, then on the third, etc., etc., and, finally, to sum the infinite series so obtained. The quick way is to observe that the bicycles meet exactly one hour after their start, so that the fly had just an hour for his travels; the answer must therefore be 15 miles. When the question was put to von Neumann, he solved it in an instant, and thereby disappointed the questioner: "Oh, you must have heard the trick before!" "What trick?" asked von Neumann; "all I did was sum the infinite series." '

Re: If Richard Feynman applied for a job at Microsoft (2002)

#36

Post by yoak »

MikeCapone wrote: post #24
javery wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The follow up "What Do You Care What Other People Think?" is also a great read and incredibly heartbreaking.

And the next logical step is to read the book that has his compiled letters. Great stuff.

And of course Mr. Feynman Goes To Washington . I think the ultimate point is that all of his books are awesome. I even liked some of the science stuff. ;-)

Re: If Richard Feynman applied for a job at Microsoft (2002)

#37

Post by mseebach »

klochner wrote: post #31
ax0n wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a four hour long interview for a systems programming/administration position where plebeian admins were allowed to grill me for about 25% of the time, asking me to whiteboard viable algorithms for cute little problems they concocted. All of my solutions would have functioned flawlessly and would have met all of the stated requirements, but they didn't involve the same thought processes that the interviewers had…

I had a similar experience, asked to design a sudoku solver. Coming from an AI background, I coded up an algorithm for state-space search. They were expecting me to approach it as a person would, reasoning about how you rule out certain numbers (the constraint propagation), which is a second-order consideration for a game the size of sudoku. I felt pretty smug when Peter Norvig shortly thereafter put up a blog post t…

Were they duly impressed or was it "wrong"?

Re: If Richard Feynman applied for a job at Microsoft (2002)

#38

Post by slug »

mikedmiked wrote: post #35
davidw wrote: post #18

Reminds me of the bit in Cryptonomicon where Lawrence Waterhouse takes an intelligence test for the navy: "They gave him an intelligence test. The first question on the math part had to do with boats on a river: Port Smith is 100 miles upstream of Port Jones. The river flows at 5 miles per hour. The boat goes through water at 10 miles per hour. How long does it take to go from Port Smith to Port Jones? How long to co…

Similarly, though not as funny, from "The Legend of John Von Neumann" - http://stepanov.lk.net/mnemo/legende.html 'Then there is the famous fly puzzle. Two bicyclists start twenty miles apart and head toward each other, each going at a steady rate of 10 m.p.h. At the same time a fly that travels at a steady 15 m.p.h. starts from the front wheel of the southbound bicycle and flies to the front wheel of the northbound…

If you like this kind of puzzle, you might enjoy "Thinking Physics" by Lewis Carroll Epstein. This one is right on page 10 of the 3rd edition.

Re: If Richard Feynman applied for a job at Microsoft (2002)

#39

Post by [deleted] »

mseebach wrote: post #37
klochner wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a similar experience, asked to design a sudoku solver. Coming from an AI background, I coded up an algorithm for state-space search. They were expecting me to approach it as a person would, reasoning about how you rule out certain numbers (the constraint propagation), which is a second-order consideration for a game the size of sudoku. I felt pretty smug when Peter Norvig shortly thereafter put up a blog post t…

Were they duly impressed or was it "wrong"?

[deleted]

Re: If Richard Feynman applied for a job at Microsoft (2002)

#40

Post by nkassis »

MikeCapone wrote: post #23
sriramk wrote: post #6

If you rename this 'If Sheldon Cooper applied for a job at Microsoft' this works beautifully :)

Or Paul Dirac. He had a very literal mind. (I just read Graham Farmelo's bio of Dirac, and I highly recommend it for those who are fascinated by genius physicists like I am)

I just bought the book after I found out while reading parts at the store that I lived 2 buildings over from his house in Florida (Tallahassee) while in college at FSU.

Dirac is a legend there not only does he have a library named after him there, the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory at FSU is on Paul Dirac drive ;p

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