[FRIAM] The comparative thickness of the tropospheree

[Nicholas Thompson]

Hey, there, Glen.  Them are some tall metaphors!

I have from a friend some inkling about the way in which llm's have
> affected software writing (as opposed tothe regular kind).  But only an
> inkling.  Could you say more?



>
>
Nick

On Mon, Apr 28, 2025 at 11:15 AM Marcus Daniels <marcus at snoutfarm.com>
wrote:

> I know.  If small green bipedal creatures landed on earth and started
> tending to yardwork would that also be a disappointment?
>
> They’ve failed to trim my tall hedge, so curse them!
>
>
>
> *From:* Friam <friam-bounces at redfish.com> *On Behalf Of *Nicholas Thompson
> *Sent:* Monday, April 28, 2025 9:44 AM
> *To:* The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <
> friam at redfish.com>
> *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] The comparative thickness of the tropospheree
>
>
>
> Hi  Marcus,
>
>
>
> I find that George's indulgence with bad metaphor very useful.
>
>
>
> I  also find amazing his ability to grasp the gist of what I am asking.  I
> have essential tremor and a bad keyboard and still George almost always
> gets the message.  Siri will take any opportunity to misunderstand.
>
>
>
> In this case, it was I, not George, who was cranking out the sloppy
> metaphors, trying to find a way to convey just how thin the atmosphere is.
> I was hoping Saran wrap thin, but that appears to be an order of magnitude
> too far.
>
>
>
> Am I reading this wrong? people often talk about LLM's as if they are
> *disappointed* in them, as if there is something they SHOULD do that they
> aren't doing.  Do you have any idea what the disappointment might be?: What
> is the world hankering for that they don't provide?
>
>
>
> Nick
>
>
>
> On Sun, Apr 27, 2025 at 9:37 PM Marcus Daniels <marcus at snoutfarm.com>
> wrote:
>
> I wonder if the George makers 1) realized that people have an affinity to
> iffy analogies and they should give the people what they want, or 2) the
> LLM was prone to generating them so they just made it a feature?
>
>
>
> *From:* Friam <friam-bounces at redfish.com> *On Behalf Of *Nicholas Thompson
> *Sent:* Sunday, April 27, 2025 8:12 PM
> *To:* The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <
> friam at redfish.com>
> *Subject:* [FRIAM] The comparative thickness of the tropospheree
>
>
>
> George and I were looking for intuition pumps to help a reader imagine how
> very thin the troposphere is.   Here is what we came up with:
>
>
> Ordered by Type: Too Thin → Best Match → Too Thick
>
>
>
> *Material / Object*
>
> *Relative Thickness*
>
> *Too Thin or Too Thick?*
>
> *Notes*
>
> Weather balloon skin (fully inflated)
>
> ~280× too thin
>
> Way too thin
>
> Soap-film fragile
>
> Plastic wrap (1 layer)
>
> ~7× too thin
>
> Too thin
>
> Would need ~7 layers
>
> Eyeball tear film
>
> ~4× too thin
>
> Slightly too thin
>
> Very close, poetic comparison
>
> Party balloon skin (inflated)
>
> ~3× too thin
>
> Slightly too thin
>
> Best easy everyday match
>
> *Troposphere*
> Apple peel
>
> ~14× too thick
>
> Too thick
>
> Best among fruits
>
> Basketball skin
>
> ~16× too thick
>
> Too thick
>
> Similar to soccer ball
>
> Soccer ball skin
>
> ~17× too thick
>
> Too thick
>
> Very close to basketball
>
> Baseball leather skin
>
> ~25× too thick
>
> Too thick
>
> Heavier and thicker still
>
> Tennis ball felt+skin
>
> ~37× too thick
>
> Too thick
>
> Very thick and fuzzy
>
> Navel Orange peel
>
> ~70× too thick
>
> Way too thick
>
> Thickest skin we've discussed
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
>
> Nicholas S. Thompson
>
> Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Ethology
>
> Clark University
>
> nthompson at clarku.edu
>
> https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson
>
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>
>
> --
>
> Nicholas S. Thompson
>
> Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Ethology
>
> Clark University
>
> nthompson at clarku.edu
>
> https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson
> .- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. /
> ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-..
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> Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe   /   Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom
> https://bit.ly/virtualfriam
> to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
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> archives:  5/2017 thru present
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