From 9887c17b319eb6d73d1cf23efb3e7edf9f346b7a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Jesse Vincent Date: Thu, 11 Jun 2026 11:30:31 -0700 Subject: [PATCH] fix(writing-skills): hang backfire mechanism on the separated prohibition-vs-recipe comparison (NEW-4); control comparison stated as trend --- skills/writing-skills/SKILL.md | 2 +- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/skills/writing-skills/SKILL.md b/skills/writing-skills/SKILL.md index 571a5462..8928d449 100644 --- a/skills/writing-skills/SKILL.md +++ b/skills/writing-skills/SKILL.md @@ -467,7 +467,7 @@ Before writing guidance, classify the baseline failure. The form that bulletproo | Omits a required element from something they already produce | Structural: REQUIRED field or slot in the template they fill in | Prose reminders near the template | | Behavior should depend on a condition | Conditional keyed to an observable predicate ("if the brief exists, reference it") | Unconditional rule + exemption clauses | -**Why prohibitions backfire on shaping problems:** under a competing incentive ("make the prompt self-contained"), agents negotiate with "don't X" and produce MORE of the unwanted content than with no guidance at all. In head-to-head wording tests on dispatch-prompt guidance, the prohibition arm scored worse than the no-guidance control while the recipe arm scored best — micro-test your own case rather than assuming, but never reach for the prohibition by default. A recipe leaves nothing to negotiate: the output matches the stated shape or it doesn't. +**Why prohibitions backfire on shaping problems:** under a competing incentive ("make the prompt self-contained"), agents negotiate with "don't X". In head-to-head wording tests on dispatch-prompt guidance, the prohibition arm produced clearly more of the unwanted content than the recipe arm (fully separated distributions), and trended worse than even the no-guidance control — micro-test your own case rather than assuming, but never reach for the prohibition by default. A recipe leaves nothing to negotiate: the output matches the stated shape or it doesn't. **Rules for whichever form you pick:** - **No nuance clauses.** "Don't X unless it matters" reopens the negotiation — appending a single nuance clause to a winning recipe degraded it from consistent to noisy in the same wording tests. Express a real exception as its own conditional on an observable predicate.