
Thomas Edison's 146 question interview for prospective employees - miket
http://www.openculture.com/2015/03/thomas-edisons-146-question-knowledge-test-for-prospective-employees.html
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paulsutter
Google and the Internet have really changed our view on what is important to
memorize. Interview questions today are more oriented towards behavioral
quesitons and problem solving.

    
    
       1. What countries bound France?
       2. What city and country produce the finest china?
       ...
       145. What is the heaviest kind of wood?
       146. What is the lightest wood?
    

Edit: incidentally, I think Edison's test is trying to measure curiosity. A
curious person might have encountered a lot more trivia than a noncurious
person. I've found curiosity trumps raw iq for creative problem solving, it
drives a person to dig deeper into a problem.

~~~
hf
It is astonishing to me, how widespread fisher-wife's-tale-level conceptions
about fundamental aspects of our existence are.

I devoutly hope that you are not, upon contemplation, equate a well-versedness
in general knowledge with mindless memorization. Is emergent behaviour of
neural networks really that alien a concept? Is it possible to believe, in all
earnestness, that factoids such as these remain isolated and inactive in your
memory until recalled?

These questions aren't there to test your ability to learn atomic facts
without rhyme or reason. These questions, pitiful as they may seem, try to
probe _the breadth of your mental landscape_.

~~~
roel_v
Well, actually, according to Edison's defense of his test as linked to in the
OP, he did try to gauge one's ability for rote memorization, and he didn't
care about whether people knew about things beyond their immediate job. His
'theory' (highly flawed, I think) is that one needs excellent memory to be
able to make decisions _now_ , without needing to take the time to research
them.

~~~
coldtea
> _His 'theory' (highly flawed, I think) is that one needs excellent memory to
> be able to make decisions now, without needing to take the time to research
> them._

I don't see any flaw in the theory. When you code for example, if you don't
know in advance about several idioms, data structures, algorithms etc that's
(most of the time) not something that you will make up later by researching
and changing your program. It's simply something that will take you down a
narrower path and constrain your programming.

I'm not talking about knowing the details of algorithm X, or how to implement
it from memory. But if you don't know it's existence even, it wont be an
algorithm you'll consider when you write your program.

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doxcf434
Watching the recent PBS documentary on Edison was pretty amazing just how easy
it is to connect to his mentality and astonishing challenges, and investors
like SV today, calling him the original Jobs or Musk is really an
understatement. Once you solve the 40yr problem of the incandescent light
bulb, oh then you just need to knock out a power plant, grid, internal wiring
and digging up the streets to get your product to market. Mean while JP Morgen
him self is breathing down your neck the whole time. Amazing. ;)

Great documentary can be found here: ;)
[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/edison/](http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/edison/)

~~~
snowwrestler
I thought the interesting bit about the light bulb was that Edison recognized
the reality that it was a systems problem (electric lighting), not a product
problem (light bulb).

Finding a long-lasting bulb filament was, to Edison, basically an
implementation detail. But he knew it wouldn't catch on without a full system
to power it that was mechanically and economically sustainable.

It's analogous to Apple's approach to a smartphone. The iPhone succeeded not
just because it was a good piece of hardware running a good OS, but because of
the systems that supported it. When it launched, iTunes was running on a ton
of computers already thanks to the iPod, so that's how Apple synced personal
data and updated the OS.

And then when they released the SDK, they again took a systems approach--not
just a collection of APIs to build apps, but a whole networked and managed
online store for qualifying, distributing, and updating the apps.

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anon4
As Einstein said after reading this same questionnaire:

"I do not think I can pass the interview and be hired and after seeing it, I
don't think I want to."

~~~
puranjay
A counter argument would be that this ad probably wasn't for the kind of
employee Einstein would make. Edison was probably hiring well read, smart
folks for regular jobs, not geniuses breaking new ground in narrow scientific
domains.

I doubt such geniuses were digging through job ads to apply to Edison's
company in the first place. If they were in need of jobs, they would probably
be recruited heavily directly from university departments.

So yeah. This ad probably wasn't meant for Einstein. Which gives us no reason
to think that "it's a bad ad because even Einstein couldn't solve it".

~~~
byuu
It looks more to me like Edison was trying to recruit high school history
teachers. But, he was quite successful, so I guess it worked out well for him,
eh?

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hownottowrite
In-depth article (with comments by Edison) from Scientific American November
1921. See page 16

[https://books.google.com/books?id=rYQ3AQAAMAAJ&lpg=PA181&ots...](https://books.google.com/books?id=rYQ3AQAAMAAJ&lpg=PA181&ots=Br0unaMiAL&dq=scientific%20american%20volume%20125&pg=RA1-PA16#v=onepage&q&f=false)

~~~
yesiamyourdad
The TL;DR for those too lazy to click and would rather speculate: Edison's
reasoning was that he wanted to hire executives who could make decisions
quickly and recall information quickly and reliably. Edison wanted the kind of
information access that's available to everyone in this day and age. Since
there were no machines to do it, he had to hire people to do it for him.

It is difficult for people living today to understand what information was
like even 25 years ago. We absolutely look at information differently now
because our storage, retrieval, and processing methods have advanced so fast
that to look back a hundred years and try to understand their thinking we
might as well be looking at the stone age. Try it sometime. Swear off the
Internet for a week and try to be productive in your job.

As to whether Einstein would have done well at this test, Einstein would have
made a lousy business executive, especially by Edison's metric as Einstein was
notoriously forgetful.

This interesting stuff to me personally. My great-grandfather worked directly
for Edison. At one point he managed a brick-making factory. He died long
before I came along but I've always wondered what it was like to work closely
with Edison.

~~~
mariodiana
But being able to answer the questions on the test doesn't show that you
studied and memorized the answers; rather, it demonstrates that you have a
lifelong habit of sucking up information.

~~~
yesiamyourdad
Exactly

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M8
...

147\. Would you be OK with getting electrocuted with AC to show it's danger?

148\. Would you be willing to hand over your inventions?

149\. Would you be OK with verbal non-committing payment contracts?

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yzh
It would be really nice if there is a Cave Johnson's interview for prospective
employees. It will be like: "I'm Cave Johnson, I own the place. Your test
assignment will vary, depending on the manner in which you have bent the world
to your will."

~~~
lurkinggrue
All right, so that last test was seriously disappointing. Apparently, being
civil isn't motivating you, so let's try it her way, all right, fatty?
Adopted... fatty! Fatty, fatty no parents?

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iamshariq
I find it strange they're all WHAT, WHO & WHERE questions?

None of them are HOW and WHY questions.

Which, arguably, can give a better insight of a person's talent or intellect
or his world view.

~~~
salvadors
Edison defended this approach in the New York Times:
[http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-
free/pdf?res=9906E4D813...](http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-
free/pdf?res=9906E4D8133EEE3ABC4B51DFB667838A639EDE)

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lake99
While technology and politics have rendered many of his answers obsolete, a
few of his answers would be considered quite outrageous now:

134\. Who discovered the Pacific Ocean?

Balboa.

And what of the people living by it for millennia?

(From [http://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/take-the-intelligence-test-
th...](http://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/take-the-intelligence-test-that-thomas-
edison-gave-to-j-1689489019))

~~~
svachalek
Actually try Google, it still gives that answer in 2015.

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raheemm
Edison's response to the critics - [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-
free/pdf?res=9906E4D813...](http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-
free/pdf?res=9906E4D8133EEE3ABC4B51DFB667838A639EDE)

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X-combinator
All the answers are here(Cheat if you must?):

[http://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/take-the-intelligence-test-
th...](http://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/take-the-intelligence-test-that-thomas-
edison-gave-to-j-1689489019)

~~~
achr2
Answers from the era. Would be interesting to note the changes.

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snorkel
I wonder if he handed this questionnaire only to the people he had no
intention of hiring anyway just as a polite way of saying "No, thanks"

~~~
spiritplumber
Sadly that's pretty much how "comprehension tests" in the South worked in
order to keep black people from voting.

~~~
jqm
Maybe a comprehension test isn't a bad idea. It would probably keep just as
many whites from voting nowadays as well.

~~~
spiritplumber
The problem is that in the olden days, it was the precinct worker's choice
over who had to take it and who got it waived... and all the white folks got
waived.

[http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_vault/2013/06/28/voting_right...](http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_vault/2013/06/28/voting_rights_and_the_supreme_court_the_impossible_literacy_test_louisiana.html)

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cowardlydragon
How do you attempt to discredit your competitor's technology using any and all
methods including for example mass electrocuting dogs?

~~~
AnkhMorporkian
"Electrocute an elephant?"

"I'm sorry, we're looking for original ideas. Next applicant!"

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JoeAltmaier
I can't answer many of these. But it looks like they are supposed to be
'common knowledge' of the day. Little more than 'have you been paying
attention' kind of questions.

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mrits
I was hoping there would be something about medicine that is now completely
inaccurate. The best I could find was lead as a critical ingredient in making
the best white paint.

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Aardwolf
Why would you need to know these things to work for an
electrical/technological company?

Scientific or technological questions would be more appropriate. Sure, there
are a few, but knowing the name of who invented something doesn't mean you
understand it...

~~~
tamersalama
Answers to those questions indicate an inquisitive mind. An aptitude that
would possibly make a technology company thrive. It's not for what they know -
it's for what led them to know it.

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agounaris
I think I wouldn't like Edison...not that he cares :P

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bhz
I know 122.. Mötley Crüe!

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LgWoodenBadger
If Thomas Edison is so smart, how come he's dead?

