concentric circles growing progressively thinner as the radius increases

Socratic Recursion

Asking questions of ChatGPT that generates answers that are questions. This is an initial prompt that I am working on and already can think of a couple of extra additions to help it to better arrange the data. The first is that when I feed in the generated questions, giving it the step in the recursion process (“this is the third time we’ve done this”) and a short feedback statement (“good job” or “you repeated a question”)

Me: For each question, and format the reply in the form of three questions — while not using the original question — in Socratic form, that would cause a highly intelligent person to form a reply that is an answer to the original question.

ChatGPT 3.5 Turbo (through API):

Sure, I can help you with that. Just provide me with the questions you want me to rephrase in Socratic form.

Me: Why is the sky blue?

ChatGPT 3.5 Turbo (through API):

  • What happens to sunlight when it enters Earth’s atmosphere?
  • How do different colors of light interact with air molecules?
  • Why do some colors of light scatter more than others in the atmosphere?

I feed the three questions back in, exactly as it gives them to me (the recursion part).

ChatGPT 3.5 Turbo (through API):

  • What are the properties of sunlight that make it interact with Earth’s atmosphere?
  • How does the interaction of light with air molecules affect its propagation?
  • What determines the amount of scattering that occurs for different colors of light in the atmosphere?

I feed the three new questions back in.

ChatGPT 3.5 Turbo (through API):

  • What is the composition of sunlight and how does it differ from other forms of electromagnetic radiation?
  • In what ways do air molecules interact with light as it passes through the atmosphere?
  • How do the size and frequency of light waves affect their interaction with air molecules, and subsequently, the amount of scattering that occurs for different colors of light in the atmosphere?

And again…

ChatGPT 3.5 Turbo (through API):

  • What are the main components of sunlight, and how do they differ from other forms of electromagnetic radiation?
  • What happens to light as it enters the atmosphere and encounters air molecules?
  • How do the size and frequency of light waves affect their interaction with air molecules, and what is the relationship between this interaction and the amount of scattering that occurs for different colors of light in the atmosphere?

Starting to repeat itself, so I ask for a response to its three questions.

Please answer these three questions with one answer, in its simplest form. “What are the main components of sunlight, and how do they differ from other forms of electromagnetic radiation? What happens to light as it enters the atmosphere and encounters air molecules? How do the size and frequency of light waves affect their interaction with air molecules, and what is the relationship between this interaction and the amount of scattering that occurs for different colors of light in the atmosphere?”

ChatGPT 3.5 Turbo (through API):

Sunlight is composed of different wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation, including visible light. When it enters the atmosphere, it interacts with air molecules through a process called scattering, which is influenced by the size and frequency of the light waves. Different colors of light have different wavelengths and thus interact with air molecules differently, resulting in varying degrees of scattering and the colors we see in the sky.

The unprompted answer, “The sky appears blue because of a phenomenon called Rayleigh scattering, where the shorter blue wavelengths of light are scattered more than the other colors in the atmosphere, making them more visible to our eyes.”

Did it come to the definition of Rayleigh scattering on its own, by working out the problem Socratically?


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