The expected value of the game is positive regardless of Ballmer’s strategy
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Re: The expected value of the game is positive regardless of Ballmer’s strategy
#2And this, friends, is the perfect example of why the modern tech interview process is pure insanity.
Re: The expected value of the game is positive regardless of Ballmer’s strategy
#3Can't wait for the paper that solves for the Nash equilibrium for this game.
Re: The expected value of the game is positive regardless of Ballmer’s strategy
#4And this, friends, is the perfect example of why the modern tech interview process is pure insanity.
It is the perfect example, why you should pay attention in your math class too.
Re: The expected value of the game is positive regardless of Ballmer’s strategy
#5Steve Ballmer's net worth is 120 billion dollars, so, assuming each game takes 30 seconds, it would take you 1.6 million years to win it all.
Re: The expected value of the game is positive regardless of Ballmer’s strategy
#6And this, friends, is the perfect example of why the modern tech interview process is pure insanity.
is it? If I was forced to ask this question as an interviewer, and the candidate said, "actually, you're wrong, here's why" that's a very good signal. Do most people not do this?
(typically there's discussion with all the interviewers and it isn't just "did the candidate get the question right or not). I personally think a lot of big tech interview questions are dumb but I think the process isn't as broken as I thought, seeing it from both sides.
Re: The expected value of the game is positive regardless of Ballmer’s strategy
#7Can't wait for the paper that solves for the Nash equilibrium for this game.
Ballmer Peaking - an optional strategy for a number guessing game
Re: The expected value of the game is positive regardless of Ballmer’s strategy
#8What if he flips a coin? 50% chance to optimize for Binary Search and 50% chance to optimize for Ballmer Search?
Re: The expected value of the game is positive regardless of Ballmer’s strategy
#9And this, friends, is the perfect example of why the modern tech interview process is pure insanity.
It is the perfect example, why you should pay attention in your math class too.
I don't think the average CS curriculum is going to cover advanced game theory. And you certainly aren't going to doing most linear programming on the spot in a interview.
Re: The expected value of the game is positive regardless of Ballmer’s strategy
#10And this, friends, is the perfect example of why the modern tech interview process is pure insanity.
Is this a perfect example of broken modern tech interviews?
Balmer's question seems fair for the complexity of the answer he was expecting.
As the interviewee you would presumably provide the (mathematically) wrong answer, but you'd show your thinking along the way, including a small demonstration of CS principles.
Keep in mind that Balmer had a long career, so if he ever asked this question, it was probably back in the 80s when no one expected you to come up with the complex solution outlined in the post.
If you did outline the correct answer, that would be amazing, and you'd be an instant hire. But the question doesn't fundamentally seem broken to me because either answer (taking the bet or not) needs to be well justified.