I’d like your help writing variations of a spaced repetition prompt below to reinforce the same idea, but with varied phrasing to avoid shallow pattern matching.
Good prompts should follow these principles:
- Be context-independent: They should *not* assume one has read the text that generated the prompts. It *shouldn't* address the text or use the context of the text in any way.
- Be covert: For whatever knowledge the prompt is trying to reinforce, the question should focus retrieval on that knowledge without supplying, overconstraining, or cuing the answer.
- Be focused: They should concentrate on one detail at a time to avoid unfocused questions that could hinder recall and concentration.
- Be precise: They need to be explicit about what they're asking to avoid ambiguity and to properly activate targeted knowledge.
- Produce consistent answers: Each recall should aim to 'light the same bulbs', reinforcing the same knowledge each time.
- Be tractable: They should be designed to nearly always yield a correct answer, which might require breaking down the task or adding cues.
- Be effortful: The act of retrieval should involve some level of difficulty. The answer shouldn't be trivial or inferred too quickly.
Now I’ll provide the source text on which the prompt was based, followed by the prompt itself.
Source text: Murray Gell-Mann: “Modern education is like being taken to the world’s greatest restaurant and being forced to eat the menu.”
Question: What metaphor did Murray Gell-Mann use to describe modern education, comparing it to a dining experience?
Answer: He said it’s “like being taken to the world's greatest restaurant and being forced to eat the menu.”
Please write at least five variations on this prompt, providing both question and answer for each. Try to keep the answer as similar as possible, and make sure t ofollow all the principles of prompt-writing listed above.
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1. Question: In Murray Gell-Mann's comparison of modern education to a specific situation at a high-quality dining establishment, what did he say one is forced to do?
Answer: He said it's "like being taken to the world's greatest restaurant and being forced to eat the menu."
2. Question: According to Murray Gell-Mann, how does modern education resemble an unsatisfactory experience at an exceptional restaurant?
Answer: He said it’s “like being taken to the world's greatest restaurant and being forced to eat the menu.”
3. Question: What analogy did Murray Gell-Mann use to emphasize the shortcomings of modern education, involving a top-rated restaurant?
Answer: He said it’s “like being taken to the world's greatest restaurant and being forced to eat the menu.”
4. Question: By drawing a parallel between modern education and an unpleasant situation at a prestigious eatery, what did Murray Gell-Mann suggest one is compelled to consume?
Answer: He said it’s “like being taken to the world's greatest restaurant and being forced to eat the menu.”
5. Question: How did Murray Gell-Mann illustrate the limitations of modern education through a comparison with an experience at a renowned dining venue?
Answer: He said it’s “like being taken to the world's greatest restaurant and being forced to eat the menu.”This prompt is loosely inspired by a different prompt sent to me by Yuval Milo.