🦆 Rubber Ducking 101

How to clear the fog | Wisdom Letter #292

Author

Ayush Chaturvedi
April 13, 2025

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Now, onto Rubber Ducking -

I love this idea of Rubber Ducking that comes from the programming world.

The term comes from a story in the book "The Pragmatic Programmer" by Andrew Hunt and David Thomas.

According to the anecdote, a programmer would carry around a rubber duck and explain his code to it line by line when troubleshooting.

By the time he finished explaining the problem to the duck, he would often discover the solution himself.

So the process of explaining your problem to anyone.. literally anyone (even a rubber toy like a duck, or a fish, or a dog) can help you clear your doubts and get to the solution easily.

Needless to say, this concept works beyond coding.. it can work in all types of decisions that you make.

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How It Works

The technique is beautifully simple: when you're stuck on a problem, explain it aloud in detail as if you're teaching it to someone (or something) else.

The "rubber duck" is just a non-judgmental listener - it could be an actual rubber duck, a pet, a plant, or any inanimate object.

Why it Works?

It works because it forces you to:

  • Articulate the problem clearly - When you have to put your thoughts into words, you must organize them coherently.

  • Slow down your thinking - Speaking aloud naturally slows your thought process, giving your brain more time to process.

  • View the problem differently - Taking the teacher's perspective helps you see the problem from a new angle.

  • Fill in knowledge gaps - As you explain, you'll naturally fill in logical steps that you might have skipped when thinking silently.

  • Activate different brain regions - Vocalizing engages different neural pathways than silent thinking, potentially unlocking new insights.

Using AI for Rubber Ducking

You can even use AI for rubber ducking (something like ChatGPT or Claude)

Unlike a traditional rubber duck, AI can provide feedback, ask clarifying questions, and engage with your explanation, creating a more dynamic debugging process.

Just keep a few things in mind -

  • Explain the full context clearly when you start

  • Walk through your thinking process methodically - step by step

  • Ask the AI to primarily listen - You can instruct the AI: "I'd like to rubber duck this problem. Please mainly listen and only ask clarifying questions if something is unclear."

  • Use follow-up questions - If you reach a point where you're still stuck, explicitly ask the AI to suggest questions that might help you think differently about the problem.

  • Summarize your insights - After explaining, articulate any realizations you had during the process, further cementing your understanding.

Do let me know what you think of Rubber Ducking, and would you like us to cover more such topics in this newsletter.

That’s it for today.

See you next week 👋

Cheers,

Ayush & Aditi