Yeah, but this differs in what I'm talking about, in that I am going to prove to you that I'm good at doing the most important part of the task: implementing an idea into code.
I think, regardless of memorizing a specific algorithm, if I can prove that I can understand something after only knowing about it for a few seconds, and then actually create a mechanism that works with that understanding, that's really what an interviewer would want to see.
I thought that by telling them I would use google to learn what other people have already learned about the task, I WAS proving to them I know how to implement their ideas into code.
I am more worried about the folks that just jump into a complex project without seeing if someone has already done this beforehand.
I think, regardless of memorizing a specific algorithm, if I can prove that I can understand something after only knowing about it for a few seconds, and then actually create a mechanism that works with that understanding, that's really what an interviewer would want to see.