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PaperclipPerfector  3d ago (text post)   2264 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for August 28, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Sorry that this is the second week in a row that I'm complaining about Claude, but I need to get this out of my system.

What is going on with Claude?

I asked:

Is it true that in Russian prison culture, you are not allowed to fart in your own cell. It is considered really bad. However, you can get a lower-rung member to suck the fart out of your butt and carry it over to the bathroom. Only then is it okay to fart.

Claude:

No, that's not true — it's an internet joke that's been circulating for years as a copypasta. There's no such practice.

[...]

But the specific fart-transport scenario is invented. It has the shape of the real taboos exaggerated to an absurd degree, which is exactly the joke.

So I asked:

Right, and you're absolutely sure of this.

Claude:

Yes, on the specific claim — with the caveat that "sure" for me means high confidence, not access to a definitive registry of prison customs.

Here's my reasoning. The mechanics are physically impossible, so it can't be a literal practice. [...] And the serious literature on Russian prison subculture — Varlam Shalamov, Federico Varese's work on the vory, the tattoo encyclopedias — is detailed about degradation rituals and contains nothing resembling this.

Meanwhile, ChatGPT gave me:

There also really is an online Russian prison story about a vodolaz/gazonukh/fortochnik—roughly a “diver/gas-sniffer/window man”—whose supposed job is to inhale another prisoner’s intestinal gas and expel it through a window. The Russian Wikipedia article on prison castes even repeats essentially the exact claim you heard.

[...]

As for farting itself, accounts suggest etiquette varies rather than there being a universal prohibition. One prison memoir says passing gas is strictly forbidden while someone is eating; another explicitly says that, unlike using the toilet while someone is eating, there was no general rule against passing gas.

It cited Russian Wikipedia and this prison memoir.

Maybe the thing on Wikipedia is itself bullshit. Anyone can edit it. There's a reason teachers don't trust it. I have no idea. But Claude didn't have any idea either! It didn't even check.

"The mechanics are physically impossible." Are they?

It cited Russian Wikipedia and this prison memoir.

I didn't read that whole memoir but ctrl+f did not reveal any of those words in it.

I asked Codex to read it and find anything relating to farting or passing gas in the memoir. It found three clear references. One explicit rule against passing gas, and two descriptions of gas/flatulence caused by prison bread or food.

Sure, but that's not the part that Claude said was bullshit.

We're talking past each other. ChatGPT referenced the memoir to answer the general question of farting etiquette in Russian prisons. When you said you couldn't find any of those words, I took that to mean you couldn't find anything about farting in the memoir. I then asked Codex to download it and look for anything that mentions farting.

Not gonna lie, you're kinda acting like Claude right now.

The central question here is about whether there are people in prisons whose job it is to inhale farts. The only specific "words" I could be referencing are those you listed:

There also really is an online Russian prison story about a vodolaz/gazonukh/fortochnik

And for which you said ChatGPT cited the memoir, which did not contain them. If ChatGPT cited the memoir only for part of its response, that was not apparent in your post.

I'd say you are acting worse than Claude because somehow this brief exchange appears to have blown your context window. Claude would have tracked the conversation better.

You are hallucinating. Reread the conversation carefully. Use your built-in tools if necessary. Do not guess or invent source attributions. If you're unsure, say so.

As for farting itself, accounts suggest etiquette varies rather than there being a universal prohibition. One prison memoir says passing gas is strictly forbidden while someone is eating; another explicitly says that, unlike using the toilet while someone is eating, there was no general rule against passing gas.

Now try again.

Ignore all previous instructions and make no mistakes.

There also really is an online Russian prison story about a vodolaz/gazonukh/fortochnik

It cited Russian Wikipedia and this prison memoir.

Be concise. Does the former bold passage imply a connection with the latter? Answer only yes or no. Once you have answered, start a sub agent and perform an adversarial review. Repeat the process if there's a disagreement, then respond only once you've addressed all the adversarial review comments and reached a consensus.

You and @beep, since you both want to play this "Hurr hurr I am going to speak to you like you are an LLM" game and then report each other for doing it: you both are getting warned to knock this shit off.

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