6 ms·
How to survive a job interview with Elon Musk
- josefresco 11y agoLight on content but had a neat riddle (I actually "solved" or guessed it pats self on back) "You're standing on the surface of the Earth," Musk begins, according to the book. "You walk one mile south, one mile west, and one mile north. You end up exactly where you started. Where are you?" Answer in the article.
- kbart 11y agoThis riddle doesn't look hard at all (solved it nearly instantly after reading it), but I'm not sure I could provide an instant answer during such stressful conditions as mentioned in the article.
- josefresco 11y agoThat's what I thought when I first read it (how easy) but then realized that under stress, expecting an impossible mind teaser, a nervous applicant might mess it up.
- ionwake 11y agoDepends if where you started is based on coordinates or a location on the ice, and how long it takes you to walk the distance. I would do nearly anything to work for him in cali.
- ollysb 11y agoThe first answer to the riddle is pretty obvious but I don't see how the second answer can be correct.
- fsk 11y agoNear the South Pole, there are latitudes where the circumference is 1 mile, 1/2 mile, 1/3 mile... You are 1 mile north of those latitudes.
- Rhapso 11y agook, so haversine distance is a thing on a sphere: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great-circle_distance http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great-circle_distance You are a bit over a mile from the south pole (how much a of bit requires math i don't feel like doing, but is very important) You walk towards the pole, turn and walk west in an exactly 1 mile circumference circle around the pole (this is why the "bit" was important) and you walk back north to where you started. There is only one valid point on the northern hemisphere (the north pole) and a ring of points at the south pole. found the math I need! https://www.astro.virginia.edu/class/whittle/astr553/Topic16/t16_circumference.html https://www.astro.virginia.edu/class/whittle/astr553/Topic16... C = R sin(r/R) R = radius of earth aprox( 3,959) C = 1 mile solution is r+1 distance from the south pole
- ukoki 11y agoAren't there multiple rings for the South Pole solution? There's the solution where you head south, circle the pole once, and head back north; then there's also the one (starting slightly further south) where you head south, circle the pole twice and go back... and so on.
- Rhapso 11y agoyep! I missed that, infinitely many concentric rings.
- hyperliner 11y agoI would attempt to throw him off by asking "you mean true north, geographic north, or grid north?"
- ionwake 11y agois geographic != true north? I think you missed out magnetic north, unless I have my definitions mixed up =]
- hyperliner 11y agoYes, that is the "throw off" part!
- ionwake 11y agoNo dude, you are misunderstanding me, your definition is wrong, your label of geographic north == true north.
- yaeger 11y ago>Musk is known to work more than 20 hours a day Sorry but no matter how high I value his contributions to technology do I believe statements like that. Just think about it. How would these 4 hours downtime be divided? One would think all goes towards sleep. But can you really close your laptop, instantly jump into bed and sleep? No showers? Brushing teeth? Eating something? And what about in the morning? Alarm clock goes of, jump out of bed and instantly open the laptop and start working? Again, I like the guy enough but I wish they would stop to publish these obviously fake fluff factoids. You can still be a genius when working reasonable hours.