02Book 06 · Chapter 02 of 08· 5 min · Workspace
Why extra can help
Hard problems need intermediate facts. Writing those facts into the reply lets later steps use them.
Some problems are easier if you write a middle step. 17 × 19 is awkward as one memorized pair. 17 × 20 = 340, then subtract 17, uses two facts the model has seen more often. The written steps turn a hard jump into two easier ones.
The same is true of a logic puzzle with three conditions. Write condition one, then two, then the combination. Each sentence is history for the next.
Writing steps does not guarantee a better answer. The model can add lines that later lines never use — they sit there as decoration. It can also write a working line and then a final answer that ignores it, or that disagrees with it. The extra text is only useful when a later line actually depends on it.
What is 17 × 19?
On the page
The only history later lines can use
Nothing written yet. Press Step.
A is extra text written before the final answer. Step through to see it appear on the page — and only on the page.
Quiz
6 questions
Before moving forward, test your knowledge of what you’ve just learned!
1.Extra tokens help when:
2.17 × 20 minus 17 is easier because:
3.A one-hop guess:
4.Three conditions written in order:
5.Help is not guaranteed because:
6.Scoring only the final number:
0 of 6 answered
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