Yep. Edison’s most important invention, IMHO, was “the Idea Factory” - the large dedicated R&D lab. Edison industrialized the process of invention and technical development.
It was as big a shift in R&D practices as Ford’s industrialization of manufacturing. The Menlo Park lab was a world wonder
No, Edison doesn’t fit the image of the ‘lone genius inventor’, and with good reason — he was the entrepreneurial industrialist who made lone genius inventors obsolete. 
When I interviewed for my current job, the recruiter told me “don’t bother wearing a suit, no one there dresses up”. Of course, all my friends and family told me that I should wear a suit to the interview anyway, just in case. I didn’t bother (but I did make sure I was reasonably smart), and now I’ve got the job, I can see that if I’d turned up in a suit and tie I’d be less likely to be hired.
Interviews are 100% about personality. If you’re going to be spending 40 hours a week working with someone, you want it to be someone you can get on with.
Like Mr Burns?
Leading to the invention of the ill-fated “deer saddle.”
Like Edison he was also an arsehole and shit at hiring then, How people behave in the unusual power dynamics of an interview does not predict job performance. It is also his job to make sure people aren’t afraid to report an error. Not being a raging dickhead really helps with this. Which Edison wasn’t and this tool doesn’t sound like he wasn’t either.
I feel like going out to eat with a job applicant would be a great way to learn about the person.
Do they have manners? How do they treat the wait staff? etc etc
The salt will wither up the entire salad and turn any tomatoes into rubber. How do you enjoy a wilted, rubbery salad?
Something tells me the folks who salt their salads are not adding enough salt to make kimchi. 
Quite, we’re talking about a light sprinkle here.
Not exactly leaving it on for a day either, you season just before you eat it.
I mean, I’ve chowed down a few salted tomato slices in my day, and never have they been rubbery. 
Believe me, not the way he did it.
What the hell kind of tomatoes are you buying? Salt will draw out moisture from the tomatoes, and soften the texture. Not make them “rubbery”. It’s one of few ways to improve mealy supermarket tomatoes.
But importantly it takes time, sitting in the salt to do that. Same for wilting greens and what have. dressing does the same. No ones saying to salt the salad and let it sit for 20 minutes. Just like you’ll be cautioned not to add dressing before hand because it will wilt things.
Important thing in that. Dressings usually contain salt.
That said one of my favorite salads/accompaniments is something I picked up from Greek places. A simple salad of coarsely chopped tomatoes, and onions. Some times cucumber. Dressed with lots of salt, and a bit of oil. Sometimes a splash of vinegar.
The entire idea here is you salt things ahead to let them soften. I can never remember the name but it’s awesome.
Well you seem mystified that this incredible normal thing even happened. So yeah.
I’m not. I’m talking this but with salt.
The other things I can get. But how to do check the condition? And what is messy?
I would never pre-salt any soup, but I will add 15-20 drops of Tabasco 'cause there is never enough Tabasco.
Salt? you mean? Tajin!
Also - interviews suck. the ideas gleaned from this thread I enjoyed:
While driving in their car to evaluate
reverse interview, is this the place you want to be
Bring Your Own Soup
managers who use 'standard tricks" for interviewing are boring
I want to work somewhere I can contribute, not just fill out forms
Edison may have been the guy who used the salt trick, but so did many others
salt is trash - use Tajin!
Steve Martin knows his Raymond Chandler:
“I went out the kitchen to make coffee - yards of coffee. Rich, strong, bitter, boiling hot, ruthless, depraved. The life blood of tired men.” - The Long Goodbye
I guess the condition would be things like, is it all banged up (which isn’t necessarily bad), are there only 4 lug nuts instead of the requisite 5, are headlights missing, are the seat belts frayed, and I could go on. Messy would be if they had to sweep a bunch of papers or food wrappers off the passenger seat just as I would be sitting down, or if there was debris on the driver’s floorboard (a safety issue). Stuff like that. Now, I wouldn’t be doing an inspection per se, but stuff like that would catch my eye.
I realize that this could get into making judgments on their socioeconomic condition, but that’s not my point. It’s more like, how do they keep things up, ie, maintain them, or is safety a concern at all.
It doesn’t predict job performance. It can, however, reveal certain character traits you want to root out. I understand that the airlines would often shuffle and delay interviews for pilots to see if their candidates got agitated at the staff. Doesn’t reveal if you are good at handling an aircraft, but it does tell you that this fellow is an impatient asshole who shouldn’t be customer-facing.
Anyway, I’ll take Jimmy Carter’s endorsement of the fellow – although I’d hate to face that interview.
There also seems to be a certain level of under-the-radar wealth confidence that’s assigned to an interviewee, if they are “comfortable enough” to show up in casually nice clothes.
It’s often largely unconscious on the interviewers’ part, as well as likely a bit classist. But if you show up dressed in the unspoken style language that implies you don’t need to impress, then many take that as meaning you’re already impressive, and in much of the modern US information workforce that gives you a designer-jeans leg up.
The modern US white collar workforce mostly no longer prefers white collars.
…earthtone or pastel collar workers instead.
