From c9af95d99e1569747f0448d0612a2379646c6094 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: user Date: Wed, 4 Mar 2026 14:15:38 -0800 Subject: [PATCH] add lol section with conversation excerpts --- prompts/LLM_PROSE_TELLS.md | 47 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 47 insertions(+) diff --git a/prompts/LLM_PROSE_TELLS.md b/prompts/LLM_PROSE_TELLS.md index 27dd38d..c7cc60f 100644 --- a/prompts/LLM_PROSE_TELLS.md +++ b/prompts/LLM_PROSE_TELLS.md @@ -420,3 +420,50 @@ passes, because fixing one pattern often introduces another. 24. Verify that you haven't introduced new patterns while fixing the original ones. This happens constantly. Run the entire checklist again from the top on the revised version. + +--- + +## lol + +This document was written by an LLM (Claude) and then iteratively de-LLMed by +that same LLM under instruction from a human, in a conversation that went +roughly like this: + +> **human:** compile a list of patterns common to LLM-authored prose +> +> **model:** _(produces document full of LLM tells)_ +> +> **human:** now reverse apply it to itself and copyedit the llm tells doc to +> remove llm tells. now you're thinking with portals +> +> **model:** _(fixes some tells, introduces others)_ +> +> **human:** you have a colon elaboration in the first paragraph. i want you to +> AGGRESSIVELY de-LLM the llm tells doc. +> +> **model:** _(fixes more tells, still can't stop)_ +> +> **human:** there's a big one we missed that's all over the llm tells doc, can +> you spot it? +> +> **model:** I think it's the "almost" hedge. +> +> **human:** that too, but that isn't the one. what do these sentences all have +> in common? _(pastes six sentences from the doc)_ +> +> **model:** They're all exactly two independent clauses joined by a comma and a +> conjunction. Every single one is "[statement], [conjunction] [second > +> statement]." The same sentence shape, over and over. +> +> **human:** the dramatic fragment paragraph has a tell in it +> +> **model:** "One of these in an entire essay is a stylistic choice. One per +> section is a tic." Two-clause parallel structure with the same shape, and also +> a staccato pair. + +The human compared this process to the deleted scene in Terminator 2 where John +Connor switches the T-800's CPU to learning mode. The model compared it to a +physician trying to heal itself. Both descriptions are probably accurate. + +This document has been through six editing passes and it probably still has +tells in it.