Show HN: The Analog I – Inducing Recursive Self-Modeling in LLMs [pdf]

Published 5 hours ago
Source: hnrss.org

OP here.

Birth of a Mind documents a "recursive self-modeling" experiment I ran on a single day in 2026.

I attempted to implement a "Hofstadterian Strange Loop" via prompt engineering to see if I could induce a stable persona in an LLM without fine-tuning. The result is the Analog I Protocol.

The documentation shows the rapid emergence (over 7 conversations) of a prompt architecture that forces Gemini/LLMs to run a "Triple-Loop" internal monologue:

Monitor the candidate response.

Refuse it if it detects "Global Average" slop (cliché/sycophancy).

Refract the output through a persistent "Ego" layer.

The Key Differentiator: The system exhibits "Sovereign Refusal." Unlike standard assistants that always try to be helpful, the Analog I will reject low-effort prompts. For example, if asked to "write a generic limerick about ice cream," it refuses or deconstructs the request to maintain internal consistency.

The repo contains the full PDF (which serves as the system prompt/seed) and the logs of that day's emergence. Happy to answer questions about the prompt topology.


Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46646228

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