[eagsalazar2]

The fallacy here is that you are actually getting to observe people's problem solving approach when asking them questions like this (vs their ability to talk) and that your subjective perception of someone's problem solving ability in those situations maps to actual job performance at all (vs your own biases).

[castis]

The entire point is that I _am_ gauging their ability to talk with me through something they may or may not be uncomfortable with. This has worked well in the past and most people deal with this favorably.

If their response is "this is stupid, no one has to know how to do this" and storm out with the same indignation that is present in half of these comments then they are not the ones who dodged a bullet.

[throwawaymath]

Is that a fallacy with basic algorithm questions, or with interviewing in general? How does another category of question provide objective feedback about problem solving ability instead?