Answers to the "Who would you want to have dinner with?" interview question

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maslow12

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Ok, so my answer to this is without a doubt Christopher Hitchens. I am shocked at his command of language, and intrigued with his comprehensive knowledge of politics and history. I would love to learn as much as I can from him over a dinner.

That is exactly what I would say in an interview. But, I'm wondering if it would be best to mention somebody else who ISNT a polemicist and activist and outspoken atheist...

Its really the honest answer I have to this question, but perhaps it would be better to give a "safer" response to the question such as Ben Franklin...
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they want to learn about you.

answer truthfully.

answer honestly.

do not "bend" answers to what you think they want to hear.
 
I would think that it would be perfectly okay to say what you have just wrote here. You remained civilized, and did not speak poorly of anyone. But, I'll look out for the responses here. Just answer honestly and you should be fine.
 
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maslow12 said:
Ok, so my answer to this is without a doubt Christopher Hitchens. I am shocked at his command of language, and intrigued with his comprehensive knowledge of politics and history. I would love to learn as much as I can from him over a dinner.

That is exactly what I would say in an interview. But, I'm wondering if it would be best to mention somebody else who ISNT a polemicist and activist and outspoken atheist...

Its really the honest answer I have to this question, but perhaps it would be better to give a "safer" response to the question such as Ben Franklin...
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This is an excellent response to this question. The reasons you gave for wanting to meet him show intellectual curiosity on your part, and that's probably the reason for the question. It's not controversial to say you'd like to learn more about a controversial figure. I probably wouldn't say "I just agree with him on everything he writes!"

Although I did meet Hitchens in person once, and he was kind of a jerk. I wouldn't want to have dinner with him 🙂
 
My grandmother who died when I was 2. (If the choice was alive or dead)

There is no wrong answer here. Say what you think and don't over think it.
 
Interviewer: "Who would you like to have dinner with?"
Applicant: "Your hot momma!"
 
I'd honestly have to say Jesus. His importance to me from a religious standpoint aside, he's an incredibly important person who had a massive influence on the direction of western civilization. On top of that, there have been so many people who have transcribed, translated and spun his teachings in the past 2000 years, it would be interesting to hear it straight from his mouth.
 
Shallow would be Megan Fox. But I'd still probably say it anyway.
 
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DrYoda said:
I wonder if they get lots of "Sir William Osler" answers. :laugh:
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w00t mcgill. 😛

I think you should always answer this question as honestly as possible. They are trying to find out what drives you, where your intellectual/societal passions are and who you would want to learn from.
 
Wasn't Christopher Hitchins the guy who bashed Mother Teresa on one hand and supported the Iraq War on the other?


I would probably pick either a very influential religious figure (Jesus, Muhammed, etc.) or a very influential American figure (George Washington, MLK, Jr., etc.).
 
scotsdoc54 said:
Wasn't Christopher Hitchins the guy who bashed Mother Teresa on one hand and supported the Iraq War on the other?


I would probably pick either a very influential religious figure (Jesus, Muhammed, etc.) or a very influential American figure (George Washington, MLK, Jr., etc.).
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Christopher Hitchins is the guy who helped guys get dates with girls who were out of their league.
 
LOL, sorry armybound, I must be missing the boat here because I don't know who you're talking about.

But, it looks like I did spell the name of who the OP was talking about wrong.

So....wasn't Christopher Hitchens the guy that bashed Mother Teresa on one hand and supported the Iraq War on the other?
 
scotsdoc54 said:
LOL, sorry armybound, I must be missing the boat here because I don't know who you're talking about.

But, it looks like I did spell the name of who the OP was talking about wrong.

So....wasn't Christopher Hitchens the guy that bashed Mother Teresa on one hand and supported the Iraq War on the other?
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No idea about Iraq. But he has bashed many people, including mother Teresa.
 
I have never been asked this question in an interview for college, grad school, or med school (i.e., I have been on a lot of interviews). I doubt I will be asked this question for residency in a few weeks. I think the question is a little cliché.
 
Rogue Synapse said:
I have never been asked this question in an interview for college, grad school, or med school (i.e., I have been on a lot of interviews). I doubt I will be asked this question for residency in a few weeks. I think the question is a little cliché.
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Ah well I think half of all med school questions are cliche by default, but it doesn't stop people asking them eh?
 
This question is especially cliche, though.
 
Man, I wish they'd ask this question. Seems like it would be fun to discuss.
 
I got asked it at a job interview last year. ( I said George Soros)

One med school did ask me it with a twist of it had to be someone who was dead. ( I said Teddy Roosevelt)
 
Zona Pellucida said:
My grandmother who died when I was 2. (If the choice was alive or dead)

There is no wrong answer here. Say what you think and don't over think it.
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Yeah, I would say my grandparents (paternal and maternal). The 4 of em died before I was born so I never got the "grandparent" experience.
 
I got asked the question on an interview last year. I said "Jon Stewart."

The interviewer looked at me and said, "that's a fantastic answer. I want to meet him too!"

You could be all boring and say Paul Farmer, but I picked somebody I legit want to hang out with! 🙂
 
Zinedine Zidane
 
Alexander the Great and all of his Macedonian sexiness.
 
DennisMikula said:
Would it be bad to say Adolf Hitler?
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I wondered this too...and while I think it would be a personal curiosity, I doubt the adcoms would like it...especially if you interview with someone who would feel affected or connected to it in anyway. Not really sure. I guess it would depend on your reasoning. Perhaps your grandfather was a holocaust survivor or something. Then you could say that you would want to meet Adolf Hitler to look at the person who caused so much blah blah - you get the idea.
 
Is it too controversial to say Jesus? I think whether we believe in Jesus or not, our society is based on traditional Christian moral guidelines and today politics, religion and social culture is based off on the teachers. It'd be interesting to see what Jesus had to say about what's going on today.
 
tea1018 said:
Is it too controversial to say Jesus? I think whether we believe in Jesus or not, our society is based on traditional Christian moral guidelines and today politics, religion and social culture is based off on the teachers. It'd be interesting to see what Jesus had to say about what's going on today.
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Whether our society is or isn't based on traditional christian moral guidelines is pretty irrelevant. Would you say that society today reflects traditional Christian teaching? I think on the whole, the answer is pretty obvious.
 
Depakote said:
I'd honestly have to say Jesus. His importance to me from a religious standpoint aside, he's an incredibly important person who had a massive influence on the direction of western civilization. On top of that, there have been so many people who have transcribed, translated and spun his teachings in the past 2000 years, it would be interesting to hear it straight from his mouth.
Click to expand...

Yeah I'd have to say Jesus too, but as an atheist. In general it would be hard for me to come up with people because I pay zero attention to famous people.

Food said:
Whether our society is or isn't based on traditional christian moral guidelines is pretty irrelevant. Would you say that society today reflects traditional Christian teaching? I think on the whole, the answer is pretty obvious.
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Majority of Americans call themselves Christian, and as a non-Christian I could serve my patients better by understanding that aspect of them, even if it is contradictory with other aspects of American society. It would be great to see how what Jesus envisioned is different from how it's interpreted today. If you lived in Utah would you pass up an opportunity to meet Smith to see what started that religion?
 
Last time I was asked this, I said Andy Warhol.
 
Jim Morrison and a weird naked indian.
 
maslow12 said:
Ok, so my answer to this is without a doubt Christopher Hitchens. I am shocked at his command of language, and intrigued with his comprehensive knowledge of politics and history. I would love to learn as much as I can from him over a dinner.

That is exactly what I would say in an interview. But, I'm wondering if it would be best to mention somebody else who ISNT a polemicist and activist and outspoken atheist...

Its really the honest answer I have to this question, but perhaps it would be better to give a "safer" response to the question such as Ben Franklin...
Click to expand...

You are my new best friend, I love hitchens. He is by far my favorite eloquent drunken atheist! I personally answered this question with Charles Darwin ( because I want to know what it was like to be someone who had such a huge impact on science, and because he had an awesome beard) and Lincoln ( strong leader, and another great beard)
 
Nikolai Tesla or Salvador Dali.
Generally, people who toe the line between batsh*t crazy and unrivaled genius would seem to have the most interesting insights to offer..
 
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