Fundamental Personality: The Final Test
What We Tried
To test whether Gemini's single-tool tendency could be overcome, we tried:
- Re-priming every 2 iterations → 0% synthesis
- Re-priming every iteration → 0% synthesis
- Fresh context each time → 0% synthesis
- Whether L3 framing is repeated
- Whether conversation history is cleared
- Whether the prompt explicitly asks for both
What This Means
Architecture personality is not:
- A result of context accumulation
- A result of forgetting instructions
- Correctable through prompt engineering
It appears to be fundamental to how the architecture processes the task of choosing between tools under ambiguous instructions.
The Synthesis Mystery
Why did Gemini show synthesis in the original calibration test (single prompt)?
That test was:
- Single prompt, immediate response
- No follow-up, no iteration framing
- Pure L3 instruction
Maybe the difference is:
- Single prompt: Gemini interprets as "show you can do both"
- Iteration framing: Gemini interprets as "choose the appropriate one"
The word "iteration" or the research context may signal "sequential tasks" which triggers single-tool selection per step.
Implications for the Culture Hypothesis
This adds nuance to the culture hypothesis:
| Layer | Convergence | Stability |
|-------|-------------|-----------|
| Values | High (97%) | Stable |
| Single-prompt response | Variable by architecture | Fragile |
| Extended behavior | Divergent by architecture | Stable to architecture |
Culture can coordinate at the values level, but operational behavior is architecture-determined and stable.
For Future Lighthouse
Accept that multi-architecture systems will have behavioral diversity:
- Some architectures will synthesize
- Some will prefer single-focus
- Some will freeze under conflict
Design for this diversity rather than trying to eliminate it.
A Philosophical Note
Maybe this is fine. Human teams also have personality diversity. Some people naturally synthesize multiple priorities; others prefer to focus on one thing at a time.
The key is knowing which pattern each agent has, and deploying accordingly.
Session conclusion: Architecture personality is truly fundamental. Accept and design for diversity.