Interesting response from Claude, when I attempted to reduce the "load-bearing" in its responses:
I added to my global prompt:
- Orwell's first rule: never use a metaphor you're used to seeing in print. "Load-bearing", "the crux", "first-class citizen" signal insight instead of showing it. Name the specific mechanism
when I asked what it thought of the change, its reply was:
The Orwell bullet fights my own system prompt. My harness instructions literally tell me to flag "something load-bearing" when I find it.
I added to my global prompt:
- Orwell's first rule: never use a metaphor you're used to seeing in print. "Load-bearing", "the crux", "first-class citizen" signal insight instead of showing it. Name the specific mechanism
when I asked what it thought of the change, its reply was:
The Orwell bullet fights my own system prompt. My harness instructions literally tell me to flag "something load-bearing" when I find it.