>I have a pet theory that when people interview they bring this buried frustration into the room with them and use the interviewing process to play the part of the people they feel humiliated them. It's conceivable that people with latent meanness, or as this abstract calls it tendencies for "narcissism and sadism" who aren't aware enough of their biases to try to counteract them, will use these sorts of questions to make themselves feel better.

Also add another factor - Google's approach is (or at least was) in the words of Google's big HR guy: "A good rule of thumb is to hire only people who are better than you." (https://www.businessinsider.com/how-google-hires-exceptional...) Such approach naturally brings out the worst in the people conducting the interview - their high opinion about themselves. Mix it in with the stuff you mentioned - buried frustration, latent meanness/"narcissism and sadism" - and you have the perfect "Google interview" :)