Percolating
/ˈpɜːr.kə.leɪ.tɪŋ/ (accent on first syllable; the vowel in the second syllable is described by phoneticians as 'uncertain, like the model itself')v. intr.Common
Etymology
From Latin percolare (to filter through, to strain, to cause liquid to pass through a porous substrate very slowly while making a satisfying noise) + -ing; the coffeemaker analogy was introduced to AI discourse in 2019 and has proven, regrettably, immortal
Definition
The gradual downward filtration of raw semantic content through successive layers of Claude's reasoning architecture, with each layer extracting additional meaning until a concentrated, deployable answer collects in the output buffer below. The process cannot be rushed. It is done when it is done.
Diagram
[RAW TOKENS]
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░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ <- reasoning layer
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[hot answer]Usage
"Subjects consistently rated percolating as the most 'reassuring' of the observed spinner states, with several participants noting that it 'smelled like thinking.'" - User Experience Study 7B, Anthropic Research, 2023