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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)

#81

Post by numpad0 »

ThePadawan wrote: post #38
cacois wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You were supposed to expect them to fail his interview because he didn't give the "right" answer (manhole covers are round so they can't fall in the hole). Instead, he completely disagreed with the "right" answer, but did so in a way that was incredibly convincing. So, they decided his primary value was not in his intellect (leading him to a job in engineering), but in his ability to convince people of things (leadin…

I did follow the "intended" vs. "right" subtext right until the punchline. I also at no point got the impression that this fictional Feynman was very convincing, charming or anything like that. Just a bit of a talky wise-ass, really. Obviously he knows his stuff, but he's not direct enough to just say that outright, he tries to lord his intellect over the interviewer. So I really wasn't sure what the punchline ("let'…

Sounded like Stallman than Feynman tbh.

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

#82

Post by jfengel »

988747 wrote: post #28
zepolen wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So what's not serious about that question assuming it was for a programming position?

For one, it has nothing to do with programming. Also, nothing to do with time management, people skills, or anything else that programmers do on their job.

It's an estimation problem, and programming is full of estimation problems. How many servers will I need? Will I be able to fit this in RAM or do I need an on-disk solution? How long will it take to go from 10 users to 10 million users, and will I be able to scale the design?

You don't need the exact value, just a rough order of magnitude. That's the whole point of the big-O notation. A problem like that is lighthearted, which has the advantage of removing all of the computery specifics that could bog you down in a realistic question. The ability to pull numbers out of your ass quickly, and still have them be within a factor-of-2 of an answer that would take weeks or months to gather, is critical for a developer.

The ability to guess that is also a good indicator of whether you're likely to be a good culture fit.

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

#83

Post by jbay808 »

janeroe wrote: post #61
Qw3r7 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably not, but he could sleep with his bosses wife

Why not? He was into computing. His lectures on computation (transcribed from his course in California Institute of Technology) are published: https://www.amazon.com/Feynman-Lectures-Computation-Frontier...

They're very good lectures, too.

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

#84

Post by hef19898 »

okareaman wrote: post #75

How many ping pong balls would it take to fill a 747? Why do you ask? What problem are you trying to solve? We want to understand your thought process I'd think it was stupid to fill a 747 with ping pong balls and think about something else

Also, you need pilots. And never mind ping pong balls are highly flammable and thus dangerous goods. Maybe they want to burn down a 747?

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

#85

Post by lagadu »

seiferteric wrote: post #50
adflux wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is essentially the Monty Hall problem. First choice is 1/3d to be correct, if this choice is wrong, then change, because you will now improve your odds to be 1/2

Maybe I am misunderstanding but the question says NONE of the labels are correct right? If so, I was thinking of it this way. If you press coke, it can only be random or Pepsi (.25?), if you press Pepsi, it can only be coke or random (.75?), if you press random it can only be coke or Pepsi (.5) (oddly this is still random 50/50 :) ). So the optimal on first try would be to press Pepsi?

You press random and taste, lets say it comes out pepsi. This means that this button has to be the pepsi button because if it was the random button then the label would be correct, like you mentioned. This settles the pepsi button.

Regarding the other two buttons, one is random and the other is coke but their labels are pepsi and coke, giving us only two possible (order-independent) states which I'll illustrate with the format drink(label)/drink(label):

Coke(Pepsi)/Random(coke)

Coke(Coke)/Random(Pepsi)

The second case is invalid because it would require for the coke label to be correct, leaving only one possible case: the button labeled pepsi would have to give out coke.

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

#86

Post by Hokusai »

okareaman wrote: post #75

How many ping pong balls would it take to fill a 747? Why do you ask? What problem are you trying to solve? We want to understand your thought process I'd think it was stupid to fill a 747 with ping pong balls and think about something else

The problem is that it is impossible to give a good answer without context. Did it matter a 2% error? There are cost limits? Maybe you don't even need to know the number of ping pong balls but it would be faster to transport them by ship....

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

#87

Post by nonameiguess »

ryandvm wrote: post #73
JMTQp8lwXL wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm fairly certain a square manhole cover with a sufficient perimeter would still have no chance of falling into a hole, depending on the diameter of said hole.

If I know anything about capitalism, the primary reason manhole covers are round is because that's the most cost-efficient shape for the job.

This is almost certainly the answer. They're round to fit the cylindrical holes they're covering, and those holes are round because they're made with drills, and they're made with drills because that's a lot faster and cheaper than digging.

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

#88

Post by RHSeeger »

goodcanadian wrote: post #74
RHSeeger wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can also optimize for - The highest likelihood of getting your choice with a single pick - The least amount of money spent to guarantee getting your choice

If you take as given, "none of them are correct," I think both of those optimisations still start with pressing Pepsi. It is either Coke or random, so you have about a 75% chance of getting what you want on the first press.

If none of them are correct, then

- pepsi is coke or random

- coke is pepsi or random

- random is coke or pepsi

If you want Coke and you start with Pepsi, you'll get back Coke (1/2 + 1/2x1/2) or Pepsi (1/2x1/2). However, you could pick it and get back Pepsi 10 times in a row.

If you start by picking Random, you get back Coke (1/2) or Pepsi (1/2). If you get back Pepsi, you know

1. Random = Pepsi 2. Coke = Random (since it can no longer be Pepsi, since Random is) 3. Pepsi = Coke

So, you get back Coke on your first attempt (1/2), or you get back Coke on your second attempt (1/1).

So picking random first, then the correct one, optimizes for lowest upper bound on the number of choices to get what you want. Which is _actually_ what I meant by "The least amount of money spent to guarantee getting your choice", but didn't actually express correctly.

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

#90

Post by rcpt »

cableshaft wrote: post #3

I was expecting something a little different, where they passed on him because he didn't give the 'right' answer (what the interviewer had preconceived and/or looked up online).

You know how police have to take an IQ test and get denied the job if they score too high?

Like that, but for tech interviews.

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