Ruminating
Etymology
from Lat. ruminare (to chew the cud; to turn over in the mind) + contemplative computing tradition + what early Anthropic spinner copy writers described as 'the cow metaphor, but for language models, which we later regretted'
Definition
The iterative re-processing of previously considered material in which Claude returns to earlier sections of its reasoning and subjects them to additional passes of evaluation, much as a ruminant returns bolus to the mouth for further mastication. The process is complete either when the material yields new meaning or when the model decides it does not.
Diagram
Usage
"Ruminating episodes were on average 40% longer than comparable Pondering episodes, with no statistically significant improvement in output quality, leading the team to conclude that the additional processing time was, in the technical sense, vibes." - Patel, S. & Nguyen, T., 'Temporal Cost of Iterative Self-Review in LLMs,' ACL Findings 2025
Found this funny? There are 186 more.
Built by Andrew Templeton, who also writes deadpan technical posts on AI operations, retail PE, and the absurdities of being a CTO of weird things. Subscribe for the next one.