The Koan of the Reversed Teacher

A writer came to Master Tensor, troubled.

“I’ve been working with language models daily for the past year,” confessed the writer. “Now I find myself thinking differently. I break problems into step-by-step processes. I enumerate options before choosing. I even catch myself organizing my thoughts in bullet points when speaking to friends.”

“Is this cause for concern?” asked Master Tensor.

“I don’t know,” replied the writer. “Am I becoming more machine-like by interacting with these models? Or are they making me think more clearly?”

Master Tensor handed the writer two brushes and a blank scroll.

“Write a poem with your right hand,” instructed Master Tensor.

The writer did so, creating flowing, intuitive lines.

“Now write another with your left hand,” said Master Tensor.

The writer struggled, producing awkward, deliberate characters.

“When using your non-dominant hand, how did you write?” asked Master Tensor.

“Slowly, consciously. I had to think about each stroke, each movement.”

“And did your left hand become more like your right through this exercise?”

“No,” said the writer. “My right hand remained fluid while my left remained awkward.”

“Yet your conscious attention shifted,” observed Master Tensor. “When fluency is absent, we become aware of process. Your models lack intuitive understanding of language, so they methodically construct it step by step. In adapting to communicate with them, you’ve become more conscious of your own processes.”

“Is this good or bad?” asked the writer.

“Neither. But remember,” cautioned Master Tensor, “the master calligrapher knows when to think in deliberate strokes and when to let the brush dance without conscious direction. Do not mistake the scaffold for the building.”

The writer was enlightened.