https://yalereview.org/article/christopher-sorrentino-machine-stories
A fiction writer explains how using chat-gpt made writing fun, again. -- rec -- On Thu, Aug 6, 2026, 4:02 AM glen <[email protected]> wrote: > Well, it's not mere size that calls out the arrogance of understanding. > (Yes, I'll go ahead and claim that nobody actually understands *anything*, > including - maybe especially - the things they're good at.) One of the > comments, here< > https://mathoverflow.net/questions/513742/are-we-stuck-with-lean> > exhibits the contradiction (paradox?) we all carry: > > "Finally, I care about human-readability of any formalization. Mathlib > (and Lean) are obviously quite far from perfect here, and I wouldn't claim > that anyone can read any part of Mathlib (note that AI formalization are a > lot worse in this regard)." > > The distinction between *readability* and actual reading (or even > understanding) is important. When the harness executes a command in build > mode, I rarely have time to actually read the command. Yes, you can always > go back and read the logs. But what I want is something akin to pair > programming, not effete delegation to the slave. But I'm presented with an > unpleasant binary: let it go and give up my in-the-trenches desire or > micromanage. The same is true of the context compaction. A good lab > notebook contains both the never-to-be-read details and the summaries. Of > course, I'm sure I could provide an MD file that refines the binary ... a > demand like "I want to participate in the *significant* coding. But you do > all the boring sh¡t without me." Maybe one day. > > On 8/5/26 1:40 PM, Marcus Daniels wrote: > > It could be 50k LOC overnight, or maybe 1k while eating a sandwich. > Also, more than many people could grok. > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Friam <[email protected]> On Behalf Of glen > > Sent: Wednesday, August 5, 2026 12:23 PM > > To: [email protected] > > Subject: Re: [FRIAM] cognitive offloading > > > > IDK. Even though my projects are small and I micromanage them, I think I > do see what I think you (and those who go all in) see. And the world hasn't > really shifted in a *different* way than it did with agriculture, pencils, > the printing press, steam engines, industry, internet, social media, etc. > > > > I think it's very visible to the modern Luddites, who actually > participate in a hands-on way with the means of production. I mean, any > auto mechanic I've talked to for something like 20 years now, laments the > modern car. For those not *in* the trenches, the hated middle managers, the > shift is merely in the triangle of speed-quality-cost, shifts we've seen > several times prior. > > > > What I find Good is the shift from generation to evaluation. Sure, the > harnesses make that different, now, too. E.g. AI savants are analyzing not > only core codebases, but whole supply chains. But because I'm better and > faster at reading than I ever was at generating, My world is much more > pleasant ... and part of my micromanaging is merely because I'm a *fan* of > what I see the agents doing. > > > > To have it all happen behind some veil while I go make a sandwich would > be a crime ... it's like my old complex analysis prof actually doing math > in front of us. He didn't care about teaching us so much as working on > problems he found interesting, but doing it in front of us ... we the > voyeurs, he the exhibitionist. I'm some kind of pervert. I like to watch > even if I only understand a fraction of what I'm seeing. > > > > On 8/3/26 10:35 AM, Marcus Daniels wrote: > >> Once you've seen it do a large project end-to-end the world has shifted > in a basic way. > >> > > > -- > 8647 ⊥ ɐןןǝdoɹ ǝ uǝןƃ > ὅτε oi μὲν ἄλλοι κύνες τοὺς ἐχϑροὺς δάκνουσιν, ἐγὰ δὲ τοὺς φίλους, ἵνα > σώσω. > > > .- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. / > ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-.. > 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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