3 ms·

Similar story. Got a life-changing job because I figured out the Monty Hall problem. Hadn't heard about it before. Lucky day!

• tzs 6y ago
  I'm not sure if it was the MH problem--all I can remember for sure was that it was a probability problem that was simple to state and the immediately obvious answer was wrong--but I have a similar story. Except I blew the problem and didn't get the job. It was 1982. A small company from the Pacific Northwest called Microsoft sent some engineers down to recruit at Caltech. I was a senior that year, and interviewed with them. They asked me their probability problem, I got it wrong, and did not receive an offer. I've occasionally wondered how different things would have been had I got it right, and so maybe got an offer, and accepted [1]. I think pretty much every engineer that started at Microsoft around that time and stuck with it (which I almost certainly would have done) ended up quite well off. I've also wondered if any of the engineers that interviewed me are people whose names I would now recognize. [1] It was not at all certain I would have accepted. I was more interested in bigger machines than the microprocessors MS was focused on, and also had a strong preference for staying in the Los Angeles area.
  • zoomablemind 6y ago
    ...in the alt reality you readily passed the interview and accepted the offer. MS tanked, DIGITAL pivoted into PC market and dominated it. At some point alt-you made this post on alt-HN. We just hope to be certain about the present moment.