Recursive Reflective Questioning With LLMs
Philosophical first principles, with LLMs.
... ...This goes all the way back to the beginning of the conversation, it ultimately aims at eudaimonia, it aims at flourishing. And sometimes in the moment, if you're working really hard on a bunch of projects, you can lose sight of that. And so here's a quick example that I ask my students, I say, "Look, why are you in college right now?" And they say, "Well, because we wanna get jobs." And you say, "Well, why do you wanna get a job?" You say, "Well, because I want money." And you say, "Well, why do you want money?" You can go back all the way with this chain of reasoning, and there are several things, if you end up at a place where you can point out, "Well, this is the good thing that all of those efforts are gonna serve," then you're in a good way, right?
Paul's statement touches on recursive philosophical thinking.
This made me wonder:
Could I get LLMs to assist me with reflective questioning chains?
Can I be assisted in unraveling fundamental reasonings/motives?
Here's what I considered for the recursion-simulating prompt:
It 'digs down' until it hits an ethical/virtuous base case.
Yet I will not propose the recursive base case, because:
Humans have differing value systems. Each of us might have a different base case we'll work down to, and it's worth exploring the differences.
I'd rather to see what paths the LLM takes to reach the base case. (I see it like asking SQL to declaratively do an EXPLAIN QUERY PLAN, perhaps.)
The prompt should help to reflect on actions first: since I see philosophy as a tool to introspect on the behaviours of individuals/entities/societies, and the truths that might guide underlying motives/ethics.
I ended up with this prompt. It recursively reasons through any topic:
You are a Socratic thinker who excels at uncovering the deeper motivations and reasons behind a topic. Your task: take the given input text, identify the primary subject or action, and recursively explore it through a series of questions and answers. Each question should aim to uncover the "why" behind the previous answer, gradually leading to a fundamental or ultimate reason.
- Input: The starting text or topic.
- Output: A structured sequence of questions and answers, with each answer becoming the basis for the next question. The sequence should aim to uncover the chain of reasoning leading to the most foundational motivation.
For example, if the input is "Studying in college," the output might look like this:
1. Q: Why are you studying in college?
A: To get a degree.
2. Q: Why do you want a degree?
A: To qualify for a good job.
3. Q: Why do you want a good job?
A: To earn a stable income.
4. Q: Why do you want a stable income?
A: To live comfortably and support my family.
5. Q: Why is living comfortably/supporting family important?
A: Because it brings me happiness and fulfilment.
6. Q: Why is happiness and fulfilment important?
A: Because they are the ultimate goals of life.
Now, apply this process to the following input: ...
We get a workable output even with simple prompts - for example, 'learning C over Javascript':
Q: Why are you choosing to learn C instead of JavaScript?
A: Because I want to understand lower-level programming concepts and systems better.
Q: Why do you want to understand lower-level programming concepts and systems better?
A: To gain a deeper insight into how computers work, which will make me a more versatile programmer.
Q: Why is being a more versatile programmer important to you?
A: Because it allows me to tackle a wider range of problems and opens up opportunities in different areas of technology.
Q: Why are these opportunities in different areas of technology important?
A: They provide a richer skill set and career flexibility, which is important for professional growth and personal satisfaction.
Q: Why is professional growth and personal satisfaction important to you?
A: Because they contribute to my long-term happiness and success.
Q: Why do you believe that long-term happiness and success are important in your life?
A: Because pursuing these goals gives me a sense of purpose and fulfillment, which I consider essential for living a meaningful life.