Rubber ducks and getting unstuck

I wasn't walking with angels \ I was talking to myself

Here’s “one weird trick” I use to get myself unstuck on analysis problems. It’s especially effective when debugging my R code, but can be useful in any scenario where I’m not sure why what I’m trying to do won’t work.

I’ve had the experience many times where I am explaining to a helpful coworker what I’m trying to do (or what the code is supposed to do), and what I’ve tried already. At some point in that process, I’ll realize that there is a disconnect between what I thought would happen and what should actually happen based on what I tried. My coworkers are very bright but it often turns out I don’t need them in this process — the act of explaining it carefully unlocks the solution.

If that’s the case, then I don’t really need to bug a coworker. I can just use…

It turns out that this strategy already has a name: Rubber duck debugging.

The website https://rubberduckdebugging.com explains it like this:

At some point you will tell the duck what you are doing next and then realise that that is not in fact what you are actually doing. The duck will sit there serenely, happy in the knowledge that it has helped you on your way.

Although I still don’t have an actual rubber duck, I’ll happily use whatever inanimate object is nearby. I’ve also had success with typing up an “email to nobody,” and usually at some point during the writing process I’ll realize what I’m doing wrong.