Just talk. Have a conversation. There is no point in trying to put someone outside of his comfort zone. You should take him to the very center ot it, and then see how well he can managd.
Any question that the interviewer already knows the answer to is not a good question.
They aren't guilty of manipulation, but that doesn't mean they're innocent: They're guilty of not being critical thinkers. In my opinion, it doesn't take their guilt at all.
I'm not sure what I'm going to say will be helpful, but this is my experience: knowing myself, there is absolutely no way I could've done it alone. I went to some sort of camp for couple of days, where there is nothing to do but meditate. At the beginning not only I thought that it's too hard for me to do, but that it's simply impossible. After the first 2 days it went better.
It's not magic, but it does have a very positive effect on my life. The way I see it it's like any other sport: it's very hard to get yourself to start, but it's amazing how fast you're getting better
The clock doesn't really matter in this example. The point is some simple device that you use to relay on. If the clock exmple bothers you, you can think of a broken thermometer that happens to show the correct temperature.