Hey, there, Glen. Them are some tall metaphors! I have from a friend some inkling about the way in which llm's have > affected software writing (as opposed tothe regular kind). But only an > inkling. Could you say more?
> > Nick On Mon, Apr 28, 2025 at 11:15 AM Marcus Daniels <[email protected]> wrote: > I know. If small green bipedal creatures landed on earth and started > tending to yardwork would that also be a disappointment? > > They’ve failed to trim my tall hedge, so curse them! > > > > *From:* Friam <[email protected]> *On Behalf Of *Nicholas Thompson > *Sent:* Monday, April 28, 2025 9:44 AM > *To:* The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group < > [email protected]> > *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] The comparative thickness of the tropospheree > > > > Hi Marcus, > > > > I find that George's indulgence with bad metaphor very useful. > > > > I also find amazing his ability to grasp the gist of what I am asking. I > have essential tremor and a bad keyboard and still George almost always > gets the message. Siri will take any opportunity to misunderstand. > > > > In this case, it was I, not George, who was cranking out the sloppy > metaphors, trying to find a way to convey just how thin the atmosphere is. > I was hoping Saran wrap thin, but that appears to be an order of magnitude > too far. > > > > Am I reading this wrong? people often talk about LLM's as if they are > *disappointed* in them, as if there is something they SHOULD do that they > aren't doing. Do you have any idea what the disappointment might be?: What > is the world hankering for that they don't provide? > > > > Nick > > > > On Sun, Apr 27, 2025 at 9:37 PM Marcus Daniels <[email protected]> > wrote: > > I wonder if the George makers 1) realized that people have an affinity to > iffy analogies and they should give the people what they want, or 2) the > LLM was prone to generating them so they just made it a feature? > > > > *From:* Friam <[email protected]> *On Behalf Of *Nicholas Thompson > *Sent:* Sunday, April 27, 2025 8:12 PM > *To:* The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group < > [email protected]> > *Subject:* [FRIAM] The comparative thickness of the tropospheree > > > > George and I were looking for intuition pumps to help a reader imagine how > very thin the troposphere is. Here is what we came up with: > > > Ordered by Type: Too Thin → Best Match → Too Thick > > > > *Material / Object* > > *Relative Thickness* > > *Too Thin or Too Thick?* > > *Notes* > > Weather balloon skin (fully inflated) > > ~280× too thin > > Way too thin > > Soap-film fragile > > Plastic wrap (1 layer) > > ~7× too thin > > Too thin > > Would need ~7 layers > > Eyeball tear film > > ~4× too thin > > Slightly too thin > > Very close, poetic comparison > > Party balloon skin (inflated) > > ~3× too thin > > Slightly too thin > > Best easy everyday match > > *Troposphere* > Apple peel > > ~14× too thick > > Too thick > > Best among fruits > > Basketball skin > > ~16× too thick > > Too thick > > Similar to soccer ball > > Soccer ball skin > > ~17× too thick > > Too thick > > Very close to basketball > > Baseball leather skin > > ~25× too thick > > Too thick > > Heavier and thicker still > > Tennis ball felt+skin > > ~37× too thick > > Too thick > > Very thick and fuzzy > > Navel Orange peel > > ~70× too thick > > Way too thick > > Thickest skin we've discussed > > > > > > > -- > > Nicholas S. Thompson > > Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Ethology > > Clark University > > [email protected] > > https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson > > .- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. / > ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-.. > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom > https://bit.ly/virtualfriam > to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ > archives: 5/2017 thru present > https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/ > 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/ > > > > -- > > Nicholas S. Thompson > > Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Ethology > > Clark University > > [email protected] > > https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson > .- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. / > ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-.. > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom > https://bit.ly/virtualfriam > to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ > archives: 5/2017 thru present > https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/ > 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/ >
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