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I don't like hammers, either. But I wouldn't try to build a house without one, now that they've been invented.
by phendrenad2 17d ago
I don't like hammers, either. But I wouldn't try to build a house without one, now that they've been invented.
- card_zero 17d agoDo you really not like hammers? They seem quite nice. Hefty, tactile, purposeful.
- phendrenad2 17d agoNo, I think hammers are fine. I think I could find a lot wrong with them if I tried, though. I could miss the nail and mash my fingers. I could misplace them and not have one ready when I need to build something. The hammer might be too heavy and might bend a small nail, or might be too light and not be able to bang in a large nail. I was making a point that AI agents are just a tool, and "liking" them is kind of irrelevant. I'll take my downvotes like a trooper, go ahead.
- happytoexplain 16d agoAnalogies are usually weak. They are rhetorical candy. Just defend LLMs on their own merits - don't bother simply stating that they are like a hammer, or a car, or a compiler. And try to resist the urge to predict your own downvotes. You are not a brave, pitiable underdog. You're just a person with an opinion, like all of us.
- card_zero 16d agoI wish to defend the hammers analogy. I don't know, our whole world is analogies, isn't it? Plus it's funny, that's worth something right?
- happytoexplain 16d agoTrue, analogies are great fun, and useful for teaching. They're just rarely useful for convincing. It's hard to make a meaningful attack or defense of something, A, by pointing to a different thing, B, without some serious case-building.
- phendrenad2 15d agoI'd like to gear more about this theory that analogies are unconvincing. First time I'm hearing something like this.
- happytoexplain 15d agoIt's not a theory, it's just an observation that seems obvious, to be a little blunt. Why would saying "X is like Y" mean anything on its own? Analogies in the service of rhetoric are unconvincing by default. You have to establish why X and Y are equivalent, not just say that it's true. Without that, it's basically just designed to make people who already agree with you nod their heads, and people who don't agree with you shake their heads. There's nothing there. Yeah, LLMs are "just a tool", like a hammer. Like a nuclear bomb. Like a dictionary. Like government. Like a can opener. It doesn't mean anything. The reason we reach for analogies is because they are easy and satisfying, not because they are effective. Once we make an analogy, the conversation essentially just becomes about litigating all the differences between X and Y, rather than actually talking about the original topic.
- phendrenad2 14d agoI think that with the right shared context, analogies work quite well. I think in general, people will know what I meant with the one I used here.
- queenkjuul 17d agoWhat is it about a hammer that you find distasteful
- Retr0id 17d agoI'm not GP, but hammers do kill hundreds of people every year.
- nnevatie 17d agoHammers are very efficient at dealing with the load-bearing seams.
- t_mahmood 17d agoWell at least you own the hammer that you paid for, but do you own the LLM?
- happytoexplain 17d agoYou don't like hammers...?
- dave_sid 17d agoHow do you feel about MC Hammer?