I don't think it's anything to with insecurity. I would consider myself a very good programmer compared to the hundreds I've worked directly with - think good

I don't think it's anything to with insecurity. I would consider myself a very good programmer compared to the hundreds I've worked directly with - think good quality, clean, well tested code delivered on time that delivers outsized value in production. I am however useless at these mental gymnastic and logic puzzle things. Having a high degree of programming skill is weakly correlated with these kind of interview questions, if that.