At Google, the geeks (which is to say, nearly everyone) entertain themselves over lunch in the famous cafeteria by asking each other thought-experiment questions that don't necessarily have a right answer. Think of those notorious puzzlers ("how many manhole covers are there in the US?") that Microsoft used to ask in job interviews.
Anyway, a friend who works there relates that one recent question was this: "How could cats kill everyone in the world?" Apparently even Larry and Sergey tossed out amusing answers.
Sadly, I immediately thought of a less amusing answer: Cats could be a vector for avian flu.
Let's hope I'm wrong.
Depends on how long that cat's tail was.
Posted by: Thomas Hawk | October 16, 2005 at 09:53 PM
So.... what's the right answer to the manhole question - i.e. what was MS looking for?
Posted by: Jake | October 20, 2005 at 04:38 PM
Questions that do not give you enough information to solve a problem generally are the result of the questionairre wanting to know how well you think creatively and HOW you answer is generally considered a measure of your elegance when problem-solving.
Posted by: John "Z-Bo" Zabroski | October 23, 2005 at 12:06 PM
Specific to the Avian Flu reference, in the November Issue of Vanity Fair, William Prochnau and Laura Parker have written an article called, "THE WAITING PLAGUE," that covers the flu strain known as H5N1.
If you are interested in just getting the summary, I wrote this post on the topic. Enlightening and scary stuff:
H5N1: The Coming Plague?
http://thenetworkgarden.blogs.com/weblog/2005/10/h5n1_the_coming.html
Posted by: Mark Sigal | October 28, 2005 at 09:36 AM
Yet another reason to keep pregnant women away from the kitty litter.
Posted by: Emily | November 01, 2005 at 06:55 AM
WE REALLY DONT ANYMORE REASONS TO HATE CATS. JUST EXISTING IS ENOUGH FOR MOST PEOPLE. THE IDIOT IN EARLY MAN EVOLUTION WHO DECIDED TO DOMESTICATE THE NASTY LIL BASTARDS , IM QUITE SURE GOT BEQAT OR STONED TO DEATH BY THE REST OF HIS TRIBE/VILLIAGE. ALL CATS MUST DIE!
Posted by: BUBBA | January 18, 2006 at 03:28 PM
Well that's an interesting question and i wonder how could cat kill us. Anyways i enjoyed reading this article and hope i get the right answer in the future....
Posted by: ps3 spiele | November 06, 2009 at 10:23 PM