" You ’re standing on the open of the Earth . You walk one mile to the south , one mile west , and one mile north . You end up exactly where you get . Where are you ? " This is the question that enterpriser Elon Musk reportedly likes to ask candidate who question for positions at SpaceX. The brainteaser was divulged in a 2015 biography about Musk , but it was recently revived whenCNBCtook to the streets of New York City to see if random passersby could get it right .
Before we reveal the answer below , a morsel of background first . cock-a-hoop companies — especially ones in the technology industry — have been sleep together to enquire wily interview questions that read like riddles . In the past , Google interviewees have been demand , " How many people are using Facebook in San Francisco at 2:30 p.m. on a Friday ? " Hewlett - Packard has opt for the interrogative sentence , " If Germans were the tallest mass in the world , how would you prove it ? " And you ’ve probably get a line some variation of aquestionrelated to golf or lawn tennis clod .
The purpose of these question it not to make you feel dumb , but to see how you process data and solve complex problems . interviewer are check your analytical acquirement , and whether or not you arrive at the correct answer is almost petty . But for the fun of it , keep reading to see if you nailed Musk ’s interview interrogation . Are you ready ? The solvent is the North Pole . If you follow the directions in the question , you ’d make a triangular way and finish up back where you started .
There ’s another potential resolution , but it ’s a little more complicated . The place in doubt is a circle with a one - Roman mile perimeter around the South Pole , and you ’d begin walk one mile northward of it . " You ’ll take the air one mile south to reach this circle , draw that mile - longsighted roundabout ’s track , and return one mile north to your start peak , " CNBC notes . ( If you ’re having trouble envision it , fit out thisvideofrom Business Insider , which offers a ready to hand illustration . )
If you did n’t get it correct , do n’t feel too bad . Most of the New Yorkers who were polled did n’t know the result , either . fortuitously , this question in all probability wo n’t add up up in your average consultation .
[ h / tCNBC ]
