> What about when you know what the concept of big O is, know why it's often touted as important, and disagree that it's as important as it's touted? What if y

> What about when you know what the concept of big O is, know why it's often touted as important, and disagree that it's as important as it's touted? What if you're ​having a conversation with someone about local politics and you're convinced the local zoning rules don't encourage growth in the way they think they do. Do you force the subject of conversation so you can make sure they know just how wrong they are? Not if you want them to walk away having a good impression of you. Instead if the talk turns to zoning you put out feelers to see if they'll want to talk about the larger issue, and only engage in the conversation if it seems like the time for it. The analogy isn't perfect, but if the interviewer wants to talk about the larger issue, you're probably well matched and will have a great interview. If not, and you know enough about runtime complexity to discuss the tradeoffs, then you know enough to just answer the textbook big-O question and move on.