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I hate these types of questions because they're not just selecting for people dedicated to the mission, they're also selecting for people who are convincing lia

I hate these types of questions because they're not just selecting for people dedicated to the mission, they're also selecting for people who are convincing liars

brookst 1mo ago
What’s the alternative? Selecting people without caring at all about their character?
- kypro 1mo ago
  I agree with the parent commenter – it's too on the nose. If you were concerned about someone's character then you need to ask questions which really help you to understand who the person is – not questions which are easy to game by lying. I'd argue asking something like someone's opinion on veganism is a better question because it might help you understand how the person thinks about the types of harms Anthropic are concerned about without being such an easy thing to lie about. Obviously they could say "yeah, I think veganism is good", but someone who actually inhabited that view or was just conflicted about balancing meat consumption and the suffering of animals would probably answer with a lot more nuance that helps you understand how that person thinks about similar kinds of ethical concerns.
  - brookst 1mo ago
    Fair, but I disagree. This person is interviewing at Anthropic. If they’ve done a decent job of prep work, they know something about the business, the challenges, possible adjacencies, etc. Springing “hey what if our core business goes to zero, what then” seems qualitatively different from “what do you think of veganism” as far as learning what someone’s motives are and what their understanding of the core business is. If I were the interviewer asking that, I would score “oh that’s fine I don’t care about money” exactly the same as “wow I’d be out of here so fast”: total failure. I think HN folks are imagining the question, imagining the responses, and imagining the interviewers’ criteria. Which, sure, easy to decide it’s a terrible question on that basis.
t3netet 1mo ago
Isn't mostly any question not directly verifiable subject to that? At least the more questions you ask a liar to pin them down the easier it is to eventually notice them tripping up.
codazoda 1mo ago
I’m not sure I understand the correct answer. A public company has a fiduciary duty to the shareholders. This company opted to become public.
- lores 1mo ago
  That's a common belief, but that duty is not absolute and does not imply the executive must choose money over morals.

I hate these types of questions because they're not just selecting for people dedicated to the mission, they're also selecting for people who are convincing liars

brookst 1mo ago

What’s the alternative? Selecting people without caring at all about their character?

kypro 1mo ago
I agree with the parent commenter – it's too on the nose. If you were concerned about someone's character then you need to ask questions which really help you to understand who the person is – not questions which are easy to game by lying. I'd argue asking something like someone's opinion on veganism is a better question because it might help you understand how the person thinks about the types of harms Anthropic are concerned about without being such an easy thing to lie about. Obviously they could say "yeah, I think veganism is good", but someone who actually inhabited that view or was just conflicted about balancing meat consumption and the suffering of animals would probably answer with a lot more nuance that helps you understand how that person thinks about similar kinds of ethical concerns.
- brookst 1mo ago
  Fair, but I disagree. This person is interviewing at Anthropic. If they’ve done a decent job of prep work, they know something about the business, the challenges, possible adjacencies, etc. Springing “hey what if our core business goes to zero, what then” seems qualitatively different from “what do you think of veganism” as far as learning what someone’s motives are and what their understanding of the core business is. If I were the interviewer asking that, I would score “oh that’s fine I don’t care about money” exactly the same as “wow I’d be out of here so fast”: total failure. I think HN folks are imagining the question, imagining the responses, and imagining the interviewers’ criteria. Which, sure, easy to decide it’s a terrible question on that basis.

t3netet 1mo ago

Isn't mostly any question not directly verifiable subject to that? At least the more questions you ask a liar to pin them down the easier it is to eventually notice them tripping up.

codazoda 1mo ago

I’m not sure I understand the correct answer. A public company has a fiduciary duty to the shareholders. This company opted to become public.

lores 1mo ago
That's a common belief, but that duty is not absolute and does not imply the executive must choose money over morals.