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Propagating
/prɒp.ə.GEꞮT.ɪŋ/ (stress on third syllable indicates urgency)v. intr.Common
Etymology
from Lat. propagare (to extend, multiply) + distributed systems jargon circa 2019, with influence from Old Norse propa (to fill a pipe with something uncertain)
Definition
The cognitive act by which Claude transmits a nascent conclusion outward through successive layers of its reasoning stack, each layer receiving the signal slightly later than the previous, like a ripple in a pond that is not sure what it is a ripple of. The process terminates either in a coherent answer or in further propagation.
Diagram
Usage
"We observed the model Propagating for approximately 4.2 seconds across what instrumentation logs described as 'seventeen conceptual anterrooms,' before finally emitting a response that addressed none of them." - Hargrove et al., Proceedings of the Workshop on Latency We Cannot Explain, 2024
See Also
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