# Bookmarked: On thinking and benzene

- Author: @gurupanguji
- Date: 2025-05-22
- URL: https://gurupanguji.com/blog/2025/05/22/on-thinking-and-benzene/
- Categories: link
- Tags: ai, benzene, humanity, llm, thinking, thoughts

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<p><a href="https://cliophate.wtf/how-to-think">cliophate.wtf - How to think</a></p>

<p>This post resonated with me. In a tiny way, I am skeptical about it given how much I found myself agreeing with it. <em>These</em> are the ways <strong><em>I think</em></strong>. I will wait until you go finish reading. </p>

<p>Go. Do it. Now. </p>

<p>When you are back, you can read through the parts that <em>just makes sense.</em></p>

<p>Disclaimer: The post argues that, by definition, LLMs cannot think. I mathematically agree with this. However, I will also be the first to admit that I am not the expert to define what thinking is. </p>

<p>I am very interested to know and debate if we land on LLMs thinking or not. However, this post is to expand and explore how humans think. I really liked the four parts of thinking that was highlighted in the post: </p>

> Thinking in silence;
> Thinking through inspiration;
> Thinking by writing;
> Thinking by not (actively) thinking.

<p>I think they do a great job of highlighting the various parts of thinking as a process. However, <em>each</em> process is best at doing something slightly different. I break the job down as follows:</p>

<ul>
<li>exposure: this is the part where you expose your brain to &#8220;the lego bricks&#8221; as posited by the author. Or the &#8220;thinking through inspiration&#8221;</li>
<li>processing: to me, this is your brain taking each lego brick and considering the various perspectives, aspects, pivots of it. This can be done by writing, by typing, in silence</li>
<li>distilling: This is the part where your brain takes the kernel / lesson of the process and then stores it, in a way to be used in another right context again.</li>
</ul>

<p>To be clear, I believe the author has hit the various ways in which you empower and encourage thinking accurately. I just wanted to call out that there are different parts of that process that might be encouraged by each of the rituals. </p>

<p>Finally, your brain does something incredibly powerful. I&#8217;ve never yet seen <em>this</em> happen by LLMs. </p>

> This is thinking by not thinking. It is passive. It happens without you forcing it, in the subconscious, while you do other things. I don’t know why it happens. I don’t understand what processes run in our subconscious mind in the background, I only know that I’ve experienced this before.

<p>I always think back to the (apocryphal) story of the <a href="https://thecalculatedchemist.com/blogs/news/the-aromatic-revolution-kekules-benzene-breakthrough#:~:text=According%20to%20the,and%20aromatic%20properties.">benzene ring structure</a>. Put me in as a believer because it&#8217;s happened to me multiple times. </p>

<p>Related <a href="/blog/2025/05/18/on-boredom-and-the-creative-power-behind-it/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=on-boredom-and-the-creative-power-behind-it">On boredom, and the creative power behind it</a></p>
