Magic is inherently unruly.

· Bits and Bobs 7/6/26
  • Magic is inherently unruly.
    • Magic is when you don't understand how it works.
    • A magic demo creates a confusing product experience.
    • Magic is stochastic; sometimes it works great, sometimes it doesn't work at all.
    • Since you, by definition, lack a mental model of when it works, you can't predict which inputs will work.
    • For systems that have magic, it's best to have magic containment.
      • Subsets of the product where magic is expected, but not others.
    • An alternative is to accrete solid layers, each inductively knowable.
      • This requires clean abstraction, the ability to "explain" layers entirely in terms of lower layers.
    • If you don't have an inductively knowable system, then users will have "... wait, what?" moments.
    • LLMs build systems top-down, from a desired end-state.
      • It YOLOs whatever internal details necessary to prop up the desired end state.
      • That means it often has surprising edge cases that are totally unexpected.

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