Programming well requires meta-cognition.

· Bits and Bobs 2/18/25
  • Programming well requires meta-cognition.[zf]
    • That is, thinking about thinking.
    • That's a rare skill in the general population.
    • But there are some systems that can accrete results of meta-cognition from savvy users and use them to improve the experience of everyone else, too.
    • That's how a lot of the most valuable features in a search engine are powered.
    • LLMs are fixed in time at training, fossilized.
    • Search engines are constantly adapting and learning as the content ecosystem changes, as the query stream flows through the system, changing it.
    • Someone will figure out how to build an open-ended adaptable system that uses LLM as lubrication, not the machinery.

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