How is a fly like a tree? A question from my wife's interview.

[maveric]

She has to give them an answer tomorrow and cant come up with anything. She/we really need this job.
???????????
What do you think that they may be looking for?

[some guy]

1. they're both

organic?

They're both species native to the planet?

:shrug:

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. What the heck kind of job needs to know that? Maybe it's just to test for out-of-the-box thinking?

[undeterred]

3. Google the question and you will come up with this:

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:X-zVzr3APUsJ:www.ssc.wisc.edu/wlsresearch/documentation/appendices/G-Personality%2520items,%2520Cognition,%2520Comparisons,%2520Closeness,%2520Values%2520and%2520Attitudes,%2520and%2520Volunteering/cor970_ScoringCogSimAnswers.doc+%22How+is+a+fly+like+a+tree%3F&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us

[rug]

4. A tree in your face would be better.

Or, they're both living things.

It's a question from an IQ test.

Item 8: How is a fly like a tree?
RESPONSES GIVEN A SCORE OF 2:
"reproduce"
"alive"
"animate" ///alive SB
"biological entities"
"biological forms" ///biolgoical entitities SB
"life forms" ///organisms SB
"life" /// live also would score 2 if said as in alive
"living"
"organisms"

RESPONSES GIVEN A SCORE OF 1:
"created by god" %creation
"created" ///WAIS category created by God SB
"creations of god" %creation
"creations" %creation
"creature of god" ///WAIS category created by God SB
"creatures"
"die" ///WAIS probe ///die SB
"environment" %environment
"evolution" ///(marginal) SB
"forms of nature" %nature
"found in nature" %nature
"from nature" %nature
"god's creations" %creation
"god's creatures" %creation
"grow" %grow
"grow" %grow
"growing things" %grow
"growth" %grow
"have limbs"
"in nature" %nature
"it is nature" %nature
"it is part of nature" %nature
"items of nature" %nature
"made by god" %creation /// created by god scores 1 in WAIS3
"natural things" %nature
"natural" %nature
"nature" %nature
"nature" %nature
"nature" %nature
"need moisture" //need staff SB
"of nature" %nature
"of the earth" ///earth SB
"on this earth" ///earth SB
"part of god's creations" %creation
"part of nature" %nature
"part of our environment" %environment
"part of the ecosystem" %nature
"part of the environment" %environment
"parts of ecosystem" ///environment SB
"produce or spread seeds or pollen" /// JF says 1 point
"products of nature" %nature
"something god made" ///WAIS category created by God SB
"something in nature" %nature
"something that grows" %grow
"things in nature" %nature
"things of god" %creation
"things that grow" %grow
"use oxygen" %need
"wild" ///nature SB
"works of god" %creation
"works of nature" %nature

RESPONSES GIVEN A SCORE OF 0:
"affected by wind" %wind
"are black" ///JF - score 0
"are up in the air" ///SB
"belong outside" %outside
"blow in the breeze" %wind
"blow in the wind" %wind
"can be messy"
"can blow in the wind" %wind
"can float in the breeze" %wind
"can move" %move
"can sway in the breeze" %wind
"color"
"dark-colored" ///JF - score 0; SB
"disease" ///SB
"dormant in winter" ///SB
"eat fertilizer" ///SB
"farm" ///SB
"fauna" ///SB
"find them outside" %outside
"flies hide in trees" ///SB
"flies land on trees" %flytotree
"flies like trees" %flytotree
"flies sit in trees" %flytotree
"flies sit on trees" %flytotree
"flutter in the wind" %wind
"flutter" %wind
"fly can land in tree" %flytotree
"fly can sit in the tree" %flytotree
"fly can sit on tree" %flytotree
"fly in the breeze" ///SB
"fly in the wind" %wind
"fly is attracted to the tree" %flytotree
"fly lands on tree" %flytotree
"fly sits in the tree" %flytotree
"fly sits in tree" %flytotree
"fly sits on tree" %flytotree
"found outside" %outside
"free"
"have leaves" ///SB
"have movement" %move
"in the air"
"in the air" %wind
"insects" ///SB
"large and small"
"live outside" %outside
"live outside" %outside
"mess" %nuisance
"messes" %nuisance
"move in the wind" %wind
"move or fly"
"move" %move
"move" %move
"movement" %move
"need each other"
"nesting" ///SB
"nonhuman" ///SB
"not human"
"nuisance" %nuisance
"one is large and one is small"
"one is small and one is big"
"one sits on the other" %flytotree
"organic"
"ourdoors" /// outdoors SB
"out in the open" ///outdoors SB
"out of doors" %outside
"out of doors" out of doors
"outdoorsy" ///outdoors SB
"outdoorsy" %outside
"outside i hope" %outside
"outside most of the time" %outside
"outside nature" %outside
"outside thing" %outside
"outside things" %outside
"outside" %outside
"part of biology" ///"biology" 1992 scored 1 OK SB
"pesty" ///SB
"science" ///SB
"seasonal" ///SB
"should be outside" %outside
"something outside" %outside
"stand upright"
"sway in the breeze" ///SB
"things outside" %outside
"things that are outside" ///outdoors SB
"use them for shade" ///SB
"wave in the breeze" %wind
"wave in the wind" %wind
"wind" %wind

www.ssc.wisc.edu/.../cor970_ScoringCogSimAnswers.doc

Good luck with the job!

:hi:

[LostInAnomie]

5. Shit helps them grow.

[trotsky]

10. WINNER!

Nicely done.

[LeftyFingerPop]

6. They are both subjects in fucking stupid pseudo-intellectual interview questions.

[jane_pippin]

7. They're probably more interested in how she approaches the question

at least, I HOPE that's the point of it. It could show that she can tackle an unusual situation (like somone asking you to describe how a fly and a tree are similar), with logic, rationally, by research, critical thinking, etc. Now how to answer it, I have no idea. I'm not a fan of these goofy interview appraoches and I dread the day I encounter one because I don't know that I could restrain my eyes from rolling.

Good luck with it.

[lunatica]

8. Either they both have DNA or they're God's creation

It depends on whether they're hiring people based on their religion. Remember Obama said he's for Faith Based Initiatives it came out that part of that policy is they're free to hire people based on their religion (or not hire them based on that) and there's some question whether Obama supports that part.

If they're not Uber Christians then maybe they want her to come up with what they both have which is the same. Then I would say they both have DNA which is the only thing they have in common. Not that they're alive because they don't specify if they are a dead fly and tree.

On the other other hand if they are Uber Christians then the answer they want to hear is that they were both created by God and mentioning anything scientific is bad.

Come to think of it maybe the interviewers want to weed out the applicants who come up the God version. Hmmm.... it slices both ways.

On the other hand maybe they want her to mention both possibilities. For example she can say that if she asked a scientist that question he/she would say DNA, whereas if she asked a Christian that question he/she would answer that they were both created by God. This might impress them because she shows the ability to see different points of view about any questions that might come up. Perhaps they want to see how she 'solves the riddle' rather than to give any 'correct answer'. There is no right answer. They want to see how she approaches the problem they gave her.

[Wcross]

9. They both can BURN baby!

Did I get the gig?

[lunatica]

11. And when she comes up with an answer they will ask another question

they will ask her how she came to that conclusion. They want to see how she deals with super ambiguous and unanswerable questions. They are watching to see how she responds, not what she responds.

Too bad it's mostly idiots who get to ask the question. All the nuanced answers, or the humorous ones are probably overlooked.

Once all the employees in a large restaurant I worked in had to take a multiple choice test which turned out to be questions asked by professional personality assessors. They supposedly could tell by the answers if you were too much trouble, a good follower, management material or a psycho. I turned out to be mentally independent which they said meant I couldn't be trusted to follow the party line. The key words are 'couldn't be trusted'.

[Tektonik]

12. She should kick them in the gonads

Jesus that's a pointless fucking question.

[Hotler]

14. I agree. Give them a shot to the grapes. eom.

[Hotler]

13. Don't flies suck up their food??

trees suck up their food by the roots. Just throwing it out there.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

15. How is a fly like a tree?

They both contain wood.

:rofl:

[XemaSab]

16. Is this the question to enter the Ravenclaw tower?

:shrug: