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I use this method too for programming problems I would normally procrastinate on and offload to subconscious thinking. Actually writing out all thinking steps
by arjonagelhout 2y ago
I use this method too for programming problems I would normally procrastinate on and offload to subconscious thinking.
Actually writing out all thinking steps helps with ironing out some wrong steps in my reasoning or going in circles due to having limited working memory.
I started doing this more rigorously after seeing how reasoning based AI does reasoning, because it seemed like a useful thinking technique.
These reasoning AI models help me think on a meta level about my own thinking and shows me tools I can use to improve it.
Great to see that I’m not alone in this!
- EncomLab 2y agoSounds like you rediscovered the long held practice of "Rubber Ducking".
- floatrock 2y agoeh, writing it out is closer to "proto design document" or just plain ol "whiteboarding"
- resize2996 2y agothe only reason I haven't written a design doc or busted out the felt tip for my rubber duck is because it can't read.
- federiconafria 2y agoHave you tried? Maybe it can.
- floatrock 2y agoI mean, I'm sure there's some founder out there pitching an AI-powered rubber duck dev productivity tool. At the very least, someone at Copilot must have pitched a rubber duck avatar as the new Clippy by now...
- ninetyninenine 2y agoBut now the rubber duck can talk back and also on occasion hallucinate and lie to you to confirm your delusions.
- nh23423fefe 2y agoI guess I'll stop using this really useful tool because someone else is incompetent.
- arjonagelhout 2y agoHaha, that’s a good point. I think the main change from using these (reasoning) models is that I’m more cognizant of my thinking process, rather than there being a novel technique.
- mattgreenrocks 2y agoFor me, I think this approach works because I can commit the current thoughts to some type of external (to my brain) storage, freeing up space to think about how to further subdivide those tasks. In general, this is very helpful for when your executive function feels taxed, as it has the effect of coaching yourself.