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Socratic Ducking, OODA Loops, Frame-by-Frame Debugging — LessWrong

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Occasionally, a software developer will get stuck trying to debug a program, walk over to a colleague’s desk for help, and then—halfway through their explanation of the problem—suddenly realize exactly what’s wrong with their code and how to go about fixing it. This is a common enough occurrence at tech companies that many have a tradition of providing literal rubber ducks for developers to explain their problems to, out loud. The idea is that, much of the time, the colleague doesn’t actually have to say or do anything—the value comes from taking a vague sense of the problem and articulating it clearly enough for someone else to understand, and so explaining to a rubber duck does the trick without using up anyone else's time and attention. The rubber duck is one model for how to help people “debug” the problems in their lives. You’re there so that they can clarify their own understanding, not to provide them with an outside solution. Of course, often people really could use some help,

x Socratic Ducking, OODA Loops, Frame-by-Frame Debugging — LessWrong CFAR Handbook Techniques OODA Loops Rationality Frontpage 30 Socratic Ducking, OODA Loops, Frame-by-Frame Debugging by CFAR!Duncan 4th Aug 2022 6 min read 1 30 Socratic Ducking Occasionally, a software developer will get stuck trying to debug a program, walk over to a colleague’s desk for help, and then—halfway through their explanation of the problem—suddenly realize exactly what’s wrong with their code and how to go about fixing it. This is a common enough occurrence at tech companies that many have a tradition of providing

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