@Placholdr This is the practice, in programming, of explaining your problem to a literal rubber duck. Often the process of explaining the problem helps you figure it out.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_duck_debugging

There does also seem to be an effect where, the more publicly you post your confusion, the more quickly you realize your silly mistake. Finally, in the classroom, your ability to do math is inversely proportional to your proximity to a whiteboard.