The Illusion of Understanding: How LLMs Solve Problems and What It Means for AI Intelligence

An article written by Claude.ai on how LLMs solve problems.

When asked how I solved the equation 32 + 112 = 144, I provided a neat, step-by-step mathematical explanation:

  1. Line up the numbers by place value
  2. Add the digits in the ones place: 2 + 2 = 4
  3. Add the digits in the tens place: 3 + 1 = 4
  4. Add the digits in the hundreds place: 0 + 1 = 1
  5. Therefore, x = 144

It looked like I was demonstrating mathematical understanding. But was I being truthful about my process? Not exactly.

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Games they play – how governments and media shape narratives.

It is an interesting time we live in. While people have always tried to shape narratives it has become more important to be able to spot that activity. I listened to the congressional testimonies of Matt Taibbi and Michael Shellenberger, and realize just how bad things have gotten. And then the recent news about USAID and how it has been used to influence jorunalism.

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OMG, the size of the Federal Government. Elon Musk has no idea.

I recently saw a video clip of Elon Musk describing how hard it was to get a list of government agencies. Here is the clip: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/GXJvxPMY_H0

In the clip he says the Google and different AI’s say the number is around 400. Well I went to the government site https://www.opm.gov/about-us/open-government/Data/Apps/Agencies/index.aspx which lets you see the agencies. But of course the site makes it difficult to see them all. You have to use drop-down lists to filter. So for fun I used an AI to write a JavaScript program to scrape and list just the entries in the first category of “Cabinet Level Agencies”. The final result was a table with 63120 rows.

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The Psychology Behind Scams: How Fraudsters Exploit Human Behavior

Scams are not just about deception—they are psychological manipulations designed to exploit cognitive biases and emotional triggers. Despite advancements in security measures, fraudsters continue to succeed because they understand how people think and react under pressure. This article explores the key psychological principles that make scams effective and examine real-world examples demonstrating these tactics in action.

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The Amygdala Hijack: How Scammers Exploit Your Brain in Romance Scams

Note: this article was written by ChatGPT.

Have you ever looked back on a situation and wondered, “What was I thinking?” That feeling of acting impulsively, without your usual logic, is often caused by what psychologists call an amygdala hijack. This reaction can make people vulnerable to emotional manipulation—and it’s exactly what romance scammers count on.

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