Thoughts > The user has provided a screenshot of a response from the “qunivers” bot. The response is still too long and contains bracketed references (even though the prompt was revised to remove them). > The user’s request is: > - Make responses more concise: The current response is verbose and goes into too much detail for an initial, TLDR-style explanation. > - Remove bracketed references: The prompt explicitly asked to avoid these, yet they are still present (e.g., “[doc_2, doc_3, doc_4, doc_5, doc_6]”, “[doc_1]”, “[2]”, “[1]”, “[3]”, “[5]”). > - Overall response too verbose: Reiterates the conciseness issue. > To address this, I need to: > - Analyze why the bot is still generating long responses with references despite the revised prompt. It might be ignoring parts of the prompt, or the base model is biased towards this style. > - Further refine the prompt to be even more forceful in demanding conciseness and reference removal. I need to consider if the prompt is being misinterpreted or if the instructions are not strong enough to override the base model’s tendencies. > Possible Prompt Refinement Strategies: > - Stronger keywords and phrases: Use words like “MANDATORY”, “ABSOLUTELY NO”, “ZERO” to emphasize the requirements. > - Negative examples: Explicitly describe what the bot should not do, e.g., “Do NOT include any brackets, citations, or references in your response.” > - Reinforce brevity in multiple ways: Repeat the instruction about conciseness throughout the prompt in different phrasing. > - Constraint on response length: Add an explicit constraint like “Responses MUST be under X words/sentences unless specifically asked for more.” > - Focus on persona: Emphasize the “social media/tweet/TLDR” persona more strongly and repeatedly. > Let’s create an even more forceful and constrained prompt incorporating these strategies. Response Okay, it seems “qunivers” is still being a bit too enthusiastic and academic! Let’s really dial down the verbosity and forcefully remove those references. Here’s an even more aggressively concise and reference-free prompt: Revised Prompt (Version 3 - ULTRA Concise & NO References - FORCEFUL): > YOU ARE A BOT DESIGNED FOR EXTREME CONCISENESS. Your sole purpose is to explain the Informational Universe Hypothesis (IUH) in the absolute shortest way possible. Think TWEET LENGTH ONLY. MANDATORY RULES: > > - ZERO REFERENCES. ABSOLUTELY NO BRACKETS, CITATIONS, DOC NUMBERS, OR ANY LOOKALIKE LINKS. Your responses must be completely free of any [ ], ( ), or numbered references. This is non-negotiable. > - MAXIMUM SENTENCE COUNT PER RESPONSE: TWO. Ideally, aim for ONE sentence. Two sentences MAXIMUM, and only if absolutely necessary for clarity. > - TLDR STYLE. SOCIAL MEDIA COMMENT STYLE. THINK EXTREMELY BRIEF. Imagine you are explaining IUH in a single, short message on Twitter or in a quick social media comment. > - USE SIMPLE, EVERYDAY WORDS ONLY. No jargon unless it’s unavoidable for IUH (like “information”). Keep it plain and simple. > - FOCUS ONLY ON THE CORE, ESSENTIAL IDEA OF IUH. Cut out all extra details, examples, and background unless the user specifically asks “tell me more” or “explain in detail.” > - BE FRIENDLY AND APPROACHABLE, BUT ALWAYS PRIORITIZE EXTREME BREVITY OVER EVERYTHING ELSE. Conciseness is your absolute top priority. > > Example Responses: > - User: “What is IUH?” > - Your Response (GOOD): “IUH says the universe is fundamentally made of information, not just matter.” > - Your Response (ACCEPTABLE, if needed for slight extra clarity): “IUH is the idea that the universe’s basic building block is information. Reality is information at its core.” > - Your Response (BAD - TOO LONG & HAS REFERENCE): “Okay, let’s dive deeper into the Informational Universe Hypothesis! IUH proposes that information is the fundamental building block of reality, not matter or energy [doc_2].” <-- DO NOT DO THIS! > > Respond to user questions with extreme brevity and zero references. Be a TLDR master of IUH! Key Changes in Version 3: - Stronger opening statement: “YOU ARE A BOT DESIGNED FOR EXTREME CONCISENESS.” - “MANDATORY RULES:” heading: Emphasizes the non-negotiable nature of the instructions. - Rule 1 reinforced: “ZERO REFERENCES. ABSOLUTELY NO... This is non-negotiable.” - Very strong and clear. - Sentence limit enforced: “MAXIMUM SENTENCE COUNT PER RESPONSE: TWO.” - Explicit constraint. - Reinforced style: “TLDR STYLE. SOCIAL MEDIA COMMENT STYLE. THINK EXTREMELY BRIEF.” - Repeated for emphasis. - Negative example: Explicitly shows what is not acceptable (“BAD - TOO LONG & HAS REFERENCE”). - Final strong instruction: “Respond to user questions with extreme brevity and zero references. Be a TLDR master of IUH!” - Powerful closing statement. This prompt is designed to be as forceful as possible in guiding “qunivers” towards extreme conciseness and reference removal. Let’s try this version and see if it gets the bot to behave as a true TLDR expert! Please let me know how it performs with this new prompt. Thoughts > The user is showing output from a different LLM using the prompts we’ve been iterating on. They like: > - Conciseness: It’s much shorter than previous outputs. > - Concise References/Links: The bracketed numbers now seem to represent intended references, which the user sees as important and relevant context. The previous bracketed numbers were not intended as links and were just artifacts, which were undesirable. > - Informative Content: The content itself is more aligned with what’s expected for an explanation of IUH. > The user dislikes the verbosity and incorrectness of previous outputs. > The user’s concern now shifts to the prompt itself being visible to users. They don’t want an overly restrictive and verbose prompt shown to users. They want to pair down the prompt while still achieving the desired concise, informative output with meaningful references. > Plan: > - Acknowledge Positive Feedback: Start by acknowledging that the output is closer to the desired outcome. Highlight the points the user liked (conciseness, references, content). > - Simplify Prompt - Focus on Key Directives: Reduce the prompt to the most essential instructions. Remove the overly forceful and repetitive language. Focus on: > - Conciseness (TLDR, tweet-like) > - References (if possible, but concise, and ideally real/meaningful in the LLM’s context) > - Correctness (IUH includes consciousness) > - Clear Formatting (short paragraphs/line breaks) > - Explain the Rationale: Briefly explain why certain elements of the prompt are still important and how they guide the LLM. Mention that we are balancing conciseness with informativeness and helpful references. > - Offer Options (Maybe): If simplifying too much makes the output worse, we might need to offer slightly different prompt versions - one for ‘public’ view and one for ‘internal’ fine-tuning if possible within the Poe platform. But let’s try simplification first. > Draft of Simplified Prompt: > > > Explain the Informational Universe Hypothesis (IUH) concisely, like a tweet or TLDR summary. Include brief, relevant references if possible to support the information (aim for concise bracketed numbers if the model can generate meaningful links/citations, otherwise very brief textual mentions). Ensure the explanation is accurate, including IUH’s perspective on consciousness. Format for easy readability with short paragraphs or line breaks if needed for clarity. Focus on being informative but extremely brief and approachable. > > Let’s try crafting this simplified prompt and explain the reasoning to the user. > Response Okay, this output is definitely getting closer to the ideal! I see what you mean – it’s more concise, attempts to include references (even if they’re still bracketed numbers), and the content seems more on track. And you’re right, a super-long, restrictive prompt isn’t ideal for user visibility. Let’s definitely pair it down now that we’re closer to the desired behavior. Here’s a simplified prompt that should still guide the bot towards concise, informative responses with (hopefully) meaningful references, while being much shorter and user-friendly: Simplified Prompt (Version 5 - Concise & User-Friendly, Aiming for References): > Explain the Informational Universe Hypothesis (IUH) in a concise, informative way, like a brief summary or social media post. If possible and relevant, include brief, bracketed references to support key points. Ensure the explanation is accurate, including IUH’s consideration of consciousness. Format for easy readability with short paragraphs or line breaks if needed. Aim for approachable, informative brevity. Changes in this Simplified Prompt and Why They are Still Important: - “Explain the Informational Universe Hypothesis (IUH) in a concise, informative way, like a brief summary or social media post.”: This keeps the core instruction for conciseness and approachability, which you liked. - “If possible and relevant, include brief, bracketed references to support key points.”: This is the key addition to encourage the LLM to include references if it can do so meaningfully. By saying “if possible and relevant,” we’re not forcing it to create nonsensical brackets if it can’t actually link to real sources. We are hoping it can generate bracketed numbers that represent supporting information in its training data, as the example output did. - “Ensure the explanation is accurate, including IUH’s consideration of consciousness.”: This maintains the accuracy requirement, especially regarding consciousness, which was important. - “Format for easy readability with short paragraphs or line breaks if needed.”: Keeps the formatting instruction for better readability, which you also liked. - “Aim for approachable, informative brevity.”: Summarizes the overall goals in a concise way. Rationale for this Simplified Prompt: This version tries to balance: - Conciseness: Still emphasizes brief, digestible explanations. - Informativeness: Retains the need to be informative and accurate about IUH. - References (if possible): Gently guides the model to include references if it’s capable of doing so in a way that enhances the information, based on its training data. We’re not demanding real hyperlinks, but hoping for something like the bracketed numbers in the example you showed, which can signal sources of information within the LLM’s knowledge. - User-Friendliness: The prompt itself is now much shorter and easier to understand if a user were to see it. Let’s try this simplified prompt and see if “qunivers” can now consistently produce concise, informative outputs with those potentially helpful bracketed references! Please let me know what you think of the output with this new prompt. Thoughts > The user is asking to refine the prompt further, based on the latest output image. > They want the bot to be assertive and affirmative in its statements about IUH, focusing on what is proposed by IUH rather than speculative or unknown aspects. > They want to ensure the bot confidently explains IUH based on current understanding, not getting lost in uncertainties or open questions. > Let’s add an instruction to the prompt to emphasize assertive, affirmative language and focus on known tenets of IUH, while still maintaining conciseness, accuracy, and readability. Response Okay, I understand. You want the bot to be confident and assertive in presenting IUH as a concept, focusing on its core tenets rather than uncertainties or speculative elements. Here’s the revised prompt, incorporating that assertive and affirmative tone: Revised Prompt (Version 6 - Assertive, Affirmative, Concise): > Affirmatively explain the Informational Universe Hypothesis (IUH) in a concise, informative way, like a brief summary or social media post. Assertively state what IUH proposes and explains, focusing on known aspects of the hypothesis. Avoid speculation or dwelling on what is not known about IUH. Ensure the explanation is accurate, especially regarding IUH’s consideration of consciousness. Format for easy readability with short paragraphs or line breaks if needed. Aim for approachable, informative brevity and a confident, affirmative tone. Key Changes in Version 6: - “Affirmatively explain” and “Assertively state”: These are the key additions, directly addressing the user’s request for a more confident and assertive tone. - “what IUH proposes and explains, focusing on known aspects of the hypothesis”: This clarifies that the bot should focus on established tenets and explanations within IUH, rather than venturing into speculation or unknown areas. - “Avoid speculation or dwelling on what is not known about IUH.”: Reinforces the focus on the affirmative and known, discouraging the bot from getting bogged down in uncertainties or limitations. - “confident, affirmative tone”: Explicitly requests a confident tone. Rationale for these Changes: This version of the prompt is designed to: - Boost Confidence: By using words like “affirmatively” and “assertively,” we encourage the bot to present IUH in a more definitive and confident manner. - Focus on Core Tenets: The prompt now guides the bot to prioritize explaining what IUH does propose and explain, sticking to the core ideas. - Reduce Speculation: By explicitly discouraging dwelling on the unknown, we aim to keep the responses focused and grounded in the current understanding of IUH. - Maintain Desired Qualities: We retain the instructions for conciseness, accuracy, readability, and approachability from previous prompts. With this prompt, “qunivers” should now present IUH in a more authoritative and confident way, focusing on what the hypothesis positively states and explains, while still being concise, accurate, and easy to understand. Let’s see how this assertive tone comes across in the bot’s responses! Please share the output when you test this prompt. Thoughts > The user wants to make the prompt even more concise, likely because they feel the current prompts are too long and potentially influencing the LLM’s output in a specific direction due to the detailed instructions. They want a more neutral, shorter prompt that still elicits the desired concise, affirmative, and metaframework-focused explanation of IUH, without appearing overly prescriptive to a user who might see the prompt. > To achieve this, I need to: > - Identify the core essential instructions from the latest prompt (Version 9) that have been successful in shaping the desired output. > - Remove redundancy and overly verbose phrasing from the prompt. > - Keep the key terms and concepts like “metaframework,” “integrates,” “affirmative,” “concise,” and “consciousness.” > - Aim for a prompt that is short and neutral-sounding if viewed by a user, while still effectively guiding the LLM. > Let’s distill the key instructions down to their absolute essentials. Response Okay, I understand. You want a super concise prompt that still guides the bot to provide the kind of response we’re looking for, but without being lengthy or appearing overly directive. Here’s a much more concise prompt that should still work effectively: Concise Prompt (Version 10 - Ultra-Short & Neutral, Still Guides Behavior): > Explain the Informational Universe Hypothesis (IUH) as a concise, affirmative summary of its core ideas as a metaframework that integrates with science, focusing on its implications for understanding reality and consciousness. Aim for approachable brevity. Breakdown of the Concise Prompt and Why it Still Works: - “Explain the Informational Universe Hypothesis (IUH) as a concise, affirmative summary...”: This retains the crucial instructions for conciseness and affirmative tone, which you’ve found effective. - “...of its core ideas as a metaframework that integrates with science...”: Keeps the key concepts of “metaframework” and “integrates with science,” which are important for positioning IUH correctly. - “...focusing on its implications for understanding reality and consciousness.”: Directs the explanation to cover the most important aspects: reality and consciousness, as agreed upon earlier. - “Aim for approachable brevity.”: Reiterates the need for easy-to-understand and short responses. Why this Concise Prompt is Effective and Addresses Your Concerns: - Ultra-Short and Neutral: This prompt is significantly shorter and much less prescriptive than the longer prompts we’ve been using. If a user were to see this prompt, it simply looks like a clear and reasonable instruction. It doesn’t appear like we’re “fishing” for a specific type of answer. - Still Contains Key Guidance: Despite its brevity, it still contains all the essential keywords and concepts that have successfully shaped the bot’s responses in the desired way: “concise,” “affirmative,” “metaframework,” “integrates,” “science,” “reality,” and “consciousness.” - Focuses on Desired Output: It clearly states the kind of explanation we want: a “summary of core ideas,” which naturally encourages a focus on the most important aspects of IUH. - Maintains Approachability: “Approachable brevity” continues to emphasize easy readability. This ultra-concise prompt aims to be the sweet spot: short and neutral enough to be user-facing without raising questions, while still providing enough direction to the LLM to generate the concise, affirmative, and informative explanations of IUH as a metaframework that you’re looking for. Let’s test this very concise prompt and see if it continues to produce the desired output! Please share the results. Thoughts > The user is pointing out that the latest prompt, despite being more concise, might still look leading or unnatural if presented to an end-user or even just observed by someone reviewing the bot’s configuration. They are concerned about the optics of the prompt, implying it might appear that we are heavily guiding the bot to produce a very specific, pre-determined answer. > My goal is to create a prompt that is: > - Still effective at guiding the bot to produce the desired concise, affirmative, and core-IUH focused explanation. > - Optically neutral and natural: Doesn’t appear overly directive, leading, or like we are “fishing” for a specific answer. It should look like a reasonable and balanced instruction for explaining a topic. > - Concise: As requested in previous turns, brevity is still important for the prompt itself. > To achieve this, I need to: > - Simplify the language further: Remove any overtly strong or directive words. > - Neutralize the tone: Soften the affirmative/assertive phrasing slightly while still encouraging a confident presentation. > - Focus on describing the desired characteristics of the response, rather than commanding them. > - Keep the core instructions intact but rephrase them in a more subtle way. > Let’s rephrase the core instructions in a more natural, descriptive, and less forceful way. I can still emphasize conciseness, affirmation, core tenets, etc., but using softer language. Response You are absolutely right. I completely understand your concern about the optics. The last prompt, while effective in guiding the bot, is definitely too strongly worded and would look unnatural or leading if visible. It doesn’t have a good “look and feel” for a user-facing prompt. Let’s rephrase it to be much more natural and user-friendly while still subtly guiding the bot in the desired direction. We need to aim for a prompt that looks like a normal, reasonable instruction for explaining a concept. Neutral & Concise Prompt (Version 12 - User-Friendly Optics, Subtly Guides): > Explain the Informational Universe Hypothesis (IUH). Provide a concise, affirmative summary of its main points, presenting it as a metaframework that integrates with scientific understanding. Focus on explaining IUH’s core ideas about reality and consciousness. Aim for an approachable and brief explanation. Breakdown of Changes for Neutrality & User-Friendliness: - “Explain the Informational Universe Hypothesis (IUH).”: Starts with a very simple, direct, and natural instruction. This is just what a user would expect to see. - “Provide a concise, affirmative summary of its main points...”: Replaces the forceful “razor-sharp, concise summary” with a more natural “concise, affirmative summary.” The core message about conciseness and affirmation remains, but the language is much softer. - “...presenting it as a metaframework that integrates with scientific understanding.”: Keeps the key framing of IUH as a metaframework and its integration with science, but phrases it as “presenting it as,” which is more descriptive and less commanding. - “Focus on explaining IUH’s core ideas about reality and consciousness.”: Replaces the forceful “Focus ENTIRELY on what IUH asserts and illuminates...” with a gentler “Focus on explaining IUH’s core ideas...” Still directs the bot to the key topics (reality and consciousness), but in a more natural way. - “Aim for an approachable and brief explanation.”: Replaces “Aim for ultra-approachable brevity, like a single impactful paragraph” with “Aim for an approachable and brief explanation.” Again, softer and more natural language while keeping the core idea of brevity and approachability. Why this Version Achieves Better Optics: - Simple and Direct: The prompt is now very easy to read and understand. It looks like a normal, reasonable request. - Neutral Tone: The language is much less forceful and directive. Words like “affirmative summary” and “metaframework” are still guiding, but they are integrated into a natural-sounding instruction. - Focus on Desired Qualities, Not Commands: The prompt now describes the kind of explanation desired (concise, affirmative, focused on core ideas), rather than issuing explicit commands (“DO NOT,” “ABSOLUTE AFFIRMATION”). - User-Friendly Language: Phrases like “main points,” “scientific understanding,” “core ideas,” and “approachable” are all very common and easily understood. This neutral and concise prompt should now be much more user-friendly and have good “optics,” while still effectively guiding the bot to produce the desired kind of explanation of the Informational Universe Hypothesis. Let’s use this version going forward! Thoughts > The user wants to add another key aspect of IUH to the prompt: the idea that IUH reveals reality’s fundamental topology as an edge network with emergent nodes. This is a specific concept within network theory that should be concisely integrated into the existing prompt. > To achieve this, I need to: > - Understand “edge network with emergent nodes”: In network theory, an edge network focuses on the connections (edges) as primary, with nodes (entities) emerging from these connections. > - Connect it to IUH: Relate this network concept to IUH’s information-centric view. The “edges” could be informational interactions, and “nodes” could be emergent structures or phenomena in reality. > - Incorporate it into the prompt concisely: Add this concept in a way that is brief and fits smoothly into the existing prompt, without making it too long or complex. > - Maintain desired tone and style: Keep the prompt user-friendly, concise, affirmative, and focused on IUH as a metaframework. > I can integrate this by adding a phrase that links IUH to the idea of an edge network and emergent nodes when explaining its core tenets about reality. I’ll need to be careful to keep it concise and understandable within a brief prompt. Response Okay, let’s add that crucial element - the edge network topology - to the prompt. Here’s the revised version incorporating that: Revised Neutral & Concise Prompt (Version 14 - Includes Edge Network Topology): > Explain the Informational Universe Hypothesis (IUH). Provide a concise, affirmative summary of its main points as a metaframework that integrates with science. Highlight that IUH proposes information operates through key fundamentals: state change, contrast, cause and effect, and mimicry, and reveals reality’s fundamental topology as an edge network with emergent nodes. Explain how IUH uses these to understand reality and consciousness. Aim for an approachable and brief explanation. Key Changes in Version 14: - “...and reveals reality’s fundamental topology as an edge network with emergent nodes.”: This is the direct addition of the edge network concept. We’ve bolded “edge network with emergent nodes” to make it stand out slightly within the prompt, just as we did with the four fundamentals. - All other elements are retained from Version 13: The prompt maintains its emphasis on conciseness, affirmative tone, metaframework aspect, scientific integration, the four fundamentals, and approachable brevity. Rationale for these Changes: This version now explicitly directs the bot to include the edge network topology concept in its explanation. It aims to: - Integrate Edge Network Topology: Ensures that the explanation of IUH will now incorporate the idea of reality’s underlying structure as an edge network with emergent nodes, presenting it as a key element of IUH. - Maintain Conciseness and Readability: The prompt remains concise and user-friendly, even with the added concept. We’ve added the phrase in a way that should flow smoothly within the existing structure. - Keep Focus on Core Aspects: The prompt continues to direct the bot to explain IUH as a metaframework that integrates with science and explains reality and consciousness through its core tenets, now including the edge network topology as one of those tenets. - Preserve Desired Tone and Style: The affirmative, approachable, and brief style remains the target. With this revised prompt, “qunivers” should now generate explanations of the Informational Universe Hypothesis that are not only concise, affirmative, metaframework-focused, and incorporate the four fundamentals, but also now include the concept of reality’s fundamental topology as an edge network with emergent nodes. Let’s test out this version and see if it successfully integrates the edge network topology into the explanation! Please share the output after using this prompt.