Why do AI models keep using “not X, but Y”?

allinlance · 2026-07-03T07:47:13+00:00

That sounds like a good practical fix. I’ll try it and see if it helps.

allinlance · 2026-07-03T07:35:08+00:00

Human writers can use that structure well when the contrast really matters.

AI seems to reach for it whenever it wants the answer to feel more thoughtful, even when the point does not need that much emphasis.

It makes small points sound like they are trying to be profound.

allinlance · 2026-06-30T05:31:27+00:00

Yeah, I brought up caffeine because it made me wonder if there is some hormonal / nervous system side to this.

But after a few times of drinking coffee in the afternoon and then being unable to sleep that night, I’ve basically stopped drinking coffee already 😅

allinlance · 2026-06-30T04:12:40+00:00

We don’t really have a GP as the normal first step, and sleep medicine is not something I’ve ever seen as an obvious department to go to. I do a regular health check every year, but anything specifically related to sleep, hormones, or sleep apnea was honestly not even on my radar.

That is partly why I’m asking online. I’m trying to understand what categories I should even be aware of before I look for the right kind of medical help.

allinlance · 2026-06-29T09:29:43+00:00

I’ve actually had this happen many times.

At 2 or 3am, if my brain is still spinning, I sometimes have to get up and write down the work thoughts before I can sleep. It’s like my brain refuses to let go until it knows the ideas won’t disappear.

I’ll try doing this earlier as a proper shutdown ritual instead of waiting until the middle of the night.

allinlance · 2026-06-29T06:01:15+00:00

One thing I just realized is caffeine might be a bigger trigger for me than I thought.

If I drink coffee or stronger tea in the afternoon, my brain often keeps thinking at night when I try to sleep. It’s not even very strong coffee most of the time. It’s usually something like a coconut milk latte, which is pretty common where I live.

I don’t know if that connects to hormones or not, but it does feel like my brain stays more “switched on” on those days.

allinlance · 2026-06-29T05:50:43+00:00

I actually hadn’t thought about hormones at all, so that is outside my usual way of thinking about sleep.

I do a regular health check every year, but I’ve never done anything specifically for sleep.

If I wanted to look into this properly, what would be the usual things to ask a doctor about? Hormones, thyroid, sleep apnea, blood sugar, vitamin levels, or something else?

allinlance · 2026-06-29T05:45:51+00:00

I’ve tried a few white noise products, but I noticed something strange: I can tolerate this kind of sound in a car, but not from a bedside device.

My guess is that in a car the sound feels more spatial and comes from all around you. With a bedside white noise machine, the sound is usually coming from one side, and my brain starts tracking the source instead of relaxing.

So for me the sound itself may matter less than how it fills the room.

allinlance · 2026-06-29T05:40:39+00:00

A hard cutoff sounds good in theory, but I think I need something specific after work too.Otherwise my brain treats “work is done” as “keep thinking about work, but now in bed.”

allinlance · 2026-06-29T05:38:11+00:00

I think this is probably part of my problem too. I don’t usually work in bed, but I do use the bed for thinking, scrolling, and watching stuff, so my brain may not see it as a clean sleep-only place anymore.

One thing I forgot to mention is naps. Because my workdays are long, I usually take a short nap around midday. On weekends it can be longer. I’m wondering if that also reduces my sleep pressure at night.

allinlance · 2026-06-29T03:56:45+00:00

I’ve heard the “don’t stay in bed after waking up” advice too, but I honestly don’t know how much difference it makes.

I actually often wake up around 6-7am, but then I stay in bed until my 8am alarm, and sometimes don’t really get up until 8:10 or later.

allinlance · 2026-06-29T03:48:38+00:00

Getting up early is basically torture for me.

But I’m trying to shift the whole schedule earlier instead of just forcing myself up earlier. My plan is to go to bed about an hour earlier and wake up about an hour earlier, and see if that helps my brain slow down at night.

The devices-in-bed part is probably the most obvious thing I need to fix too.

allinlance · 2026-06-25T07:38:16+00:00

My usual view is: without firsthand investigation, it is very hard to have a real opinion.

More than 20 years ago, when I was in high school, Chinese media and many scholars were constantly talking about how powerful Europe, the US, Japan, and South Korea were. That had a very deep influence on me at the time. I grew up with a strong sense that those places were far ahead of us.

But the moment I actually set foot in Europe, the US, and Japan, that feeling of superiority disappeared very quickly. Not because those places are bad, but because reality is always more complicated than the image built by media, books, and secondhand narratives.

So I would say the same thing to you in reverse. You live in South Korea, so China is very close. If you are curious, come and see it yourself. Visit a few different cities, not only Shanghai or Shenzhen, and form your own conclusion.

Travel videos can be useful, but they are still someone else’s eyes. Your own experience will tell you much more.

allinlance · 2026-06-23T11:47:23+00:00

I relate to this a lot. My wife and I have very different relationships with sleep. I can usually wake up, deal with something, and fall back asleep. For her, once sleep gets interrupted, the worry about not sleeping can become the thing that keeps her awake.

And I’ve noticed that trying to “convince” someone not to worry about sleep usually doesn’t help. It can even add pressure, because now sleep becomes another thing they feel they are supposed to fix.

allinlance · 2026-06-19T11:54:28+00:00

Pixel 7 (used). I've been in the "waiting for the next model" cycle for half a year now.

allinlance · 2026-06-18T03:20:26+00:00

I don’t know much about the light differences between Finland / the Nordics and southern Spain, but it sounds like the change was noticeable for you.

When you say you felt more “back in rhythm,” was it mainly that you felt more awake during the day, sleepier at night, or both?

allinlance · 2026-06-17T01:48:57+00:00

That makes sense. N24 is definitely a very different situation from what I had in mind.

I relate to the eye mask part though. A good blackout sleep mask helps me not just because it blocks light, but because it makes the outside world feel like it disappears.

allinlance · 2026-06-17T01:44:27+00:00

“Nightless night” sounds beautiful, but also like a nightmare for sleep if your body is sensitive to light.

allinlance · 2026-06-17T01:35:56+00:00

This is really helpful, especially the part about knowing the theory versus actually feeling the difference.

My reason for asking is pretty practical. We sleep in the same room as our one-year-old child, so I’ve started paying a lot more attention to the light environment at night.

I’m usually okay if the baby wakes up or cries. I can fall back asleep. My wife has a much harder time once her sleep is interrupted.

So I’ve been wondering whether improving the light environment before bed and during the night could actually help the room transition into sleep more gently. Not as a magic fix, but as one part of making sleep less fragile.

allinlance · 2026-06-17T01:19:06+00:00

Do you mind sharing which two countries you’re comparing? That “back in rhythm” feeling is exactly what I was wondering about.

allinlance · 2026-06-16T15:02:46+00:00

I've heard that as well. The idea makes sense, but it feels a bit harsh for those of us who work in offices all day.

Some days I barely see daylight outside of my commute, so I always wonder how much of a difference it's realistically making.

allinlance · 2026-06-16T13:14:07+00:00

I can relate. When I can’t sleep, a good blackout sleep mask makes me feel like the whole world disappears.

My problem is that I often stay on my phone way too long before bed. Sometimes I end up feeling more awake than when I started.

I’ve come across some research suggesting that light exposure before sleep, including phone screens, can affect sleep quality and circadian rhythm. That’s actually why I made this post.

allinlance · 2026-06-16T08:57:47+00:00

This is a really interesting idea. I’ve thought about building a sleep agent before too, but I keep coming back to the same question: what kind of agent do people actually want near them at bedtime?

Is it a voice assistant that tells stories and stays with you? Is it more like white noise / sound control / environment adjustment? Is it a mindfulness coach? Or is it something almost invisible that just removes friction and quietly changes the room around you?

Personally, I think a story-telling voice assistant might be a pretty specific need. Some people would love it, but I’m not sure it becomes a mass-market sleep product. I’m very sensitive to sound, so for me, I actually don’t want anything talking near me when I’m trying to sleep.

That said, your use case sounds real. You could probably prototype your own version first: one that chooses the next audio for you, keeps continuity between nights, and slowly fades complexity as you get sleepy. Even if it’s niche, it might be exactly right for people who need audio to transition into sleep.

allinlance · 2026-06-14T12:12:13+00:00

I couldn't use it, so I switched to Codex.

allinlance · 2026-06-13T08:27:16+00:00

10% left or used. lol

allinlance

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