Ask A Genius 984: What is the purpose of an interview?
Author(s): Rick Rosner and Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Ask A Genius
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2024/06/28
Rick Rosner: You’ve probably done more than 1,000 interviews and have certainly asked me more than me 1,000 questions over the past 10 years. You’ve talked to hundreds of people in your interviewing career. So, you’ve developed an idea of what interviews are good for. Why do you interview people?
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: I want to understand what someone without extensive interview experience thinks about it. What do you think interviews are for?
Rosner: In my work life, I haven’t interviewed that many people, except for you over the last week or so. But I have been assigned to come up with interview questions for people, so I’ve thought about what questions are good to ask specific individuals. I’ve considered what makes a good interview question, especially since you’ve been asking me questions for 10 years. So, what do I think is good about being interviewed or interviews in general?
One important aspect is the Black Mirror principle. We are on the cusp of technological resurrection. People can be cloned, but a clone isn’t the same as the original person. It’s someone with the same genes but different life experiences, like a twin born decades later. Twins aren’t the same person, but we may eventually have ways to transfer consciousness into other vessels. Mapping the brain’s connectome—the pattern of connections among neurons—could come close to replicating consciousness.
In Black Mirror, there’s an episode where a young woman’s boyfriend gets killed, and she resurrects a virtual version of him based on his social media presence. AI could replicate his pattern of discourse, making it feel like having her boyfriend back. Being interviewed leaves a verbal and video record, which, with future technology, might help perpetuate your existence. Historically, interviews have allowed people to leave a record of their thoughts for others to read later. In the future, it might be a way to perpetuate yourself to some extent.
Jacobsen: My idea of interviews is less about the interviewer and the interviewee, and more about the interaction. There’s more to be gained from the conversation than any particular statement of an interviewee or a question or a comment of an interviewer. I encourage questioning premises during an interview. Sometimes I’ll have long reflections opening an interview; other times, it will be a straightforward question. The interaction between the interviewer and the interviewee is key. The personality of both matters a lot. Unlike talk shows, where questions are often generic, my interviews focus on the expertise and experience of the person being interviewed.
Rosner: Can we put a pin in this and resume this evening? The gardener has arrived, and the noise is too much.
Jacobsen: Sure, let’s resume later.
Rosner: Thank you, and sorry for the conditions.
Jacobsen: Bye.
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In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightpublishing.com.
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