Although the whole idea of “figuring out the solution by explaining the problem” is absolutely real, I find that the problem for me with this is that the duck i

Although the whole idea of “figuring out the solution by explaining the problem” is absolutely real, I find that the problem for me with this is that the duck is (and always will be) an obvious stand in for something else; a gimmick of sorts. It just doesn’t work for me as a suspension of disbelief. I need to believe that my explanation is actually useful and necessary for the other person to help me. This happened to me a lot back in the days when stack overflow was the go-to place for programming help. I think the vast majority of my questions there I figured out by myself immediately after posting, but only because I actually believed that someone there (a) could actually help me and (b) for them to do it they needed me to be very clear in my explanation.