A_NEW_COGNITIVE_INTERFACE

Stop prompting.

Start steering the conversation.

Telling AI what you don't want is 10x more powerful than telling it what you do. Learn how to use the 4 Control Knobs to calibrate the machine before every interaction.

GET_THE_BOOK — $19 PDF_DOWNLOAD_V1.0 // 40 MIN READ

The Shift

The Negotiator's Frame.

Hostage negotiators don't walk into a room and start making demands. They set the frame. They establish the conditions of the conversation before they ask for anything.

Most people treat AI like a vending machine—input text, get product. Thinking Modes teaches you how to treat it like a thinking partner.

FROM_THE_BUILDER

"I wrote this because I was tired of AI books written by theorists. I'm a full-stack developer with 25 years in the trenches, and this is the operating system I use every day to ship products." — Carmelyne V.M. Thompson

The Control Surface

Meet the 4 Control Knobs

Adjust these four levers to set the "State" of the AI before you begin.

GOAL

The shape of success.

EXCLUSION

What to leave out.

CONSTRAINT

The box it lives in.

ROLE

The perspective required.

Manifest

16 chapters. Zero fluff.

Each chapter is short and focused — built for people who want to understand the idea and move on to using it.

The Core Theory

Chapter 1: AI Rewards Clarity
Why some people get magic and others get mush
Chapter 2: How We Learn
Understanding your own process changes everything
Chapter 3: States, Not Feelings
The mental shift that changes everything
Chapter 4: The Negotiator Analogy
What hostage negotiators know that you don’t
Chapter 5: The 4 Control Knobs
Your complete toolkit for steering AI conversations
Chapter 6: The Shared Mental Model
Why saying “pink” doesn’t mean the same pink

Deep Dives

Chapter 7: Why Experts Get Better Answers
It’s not what you know — it’s how you ask
Chapter 8: Engineered Love & Emotional UX
How to tell care from capture

Practical Application

Chapter 9: Common Mistakes
The patterns that trip everyone up
Chapter 10: The Checklist
Your pre-flight check for every AI conversation
Chapter 11: AI as a Thinking Gym
How to get smarter by talking to machines
Chapter 12: Long Horizon Tasks
When the conversation spans days, not minutes
Chapter 13: Optimizing Your AI Memory
How to teach AI who you are
Chapter 14: Persona Attractors
How role patterns emerge, resonate, and stabilize

Workbook & Resources

Workbook & Practice Plan
6 exercises + 30 Days to Fluency
Resources & Closing
Where to go from here

Warning

WHO_THIS_IS_NOT_FOR

If you're looking for a list of 500 "copy-paste prompts" or a magic button that does all the work for you without your brain engaged — this is not that book.

This is for people who want to be better thinkers while using AI.

Log Entry: Origin

This book came from real frustration.

I've been working with AI tools since they became genuinely useful — and I spent a long time feeling like I was fighting them instead of working with them.

The shift happened when I stopped trying to find the "right prompt" and started thinking about the conditions I was creating. What was I actually asking for? What was I leaving out?

Thinking Modes is what I wish someone had handed me at the beginning. It's short because I don't have time for long — and I figured you probably don't either.

— Carmelyne V.M. Thompson
Full-stack developer, designer, educator, and systems thinker with 25 years of experience across web and app development, UX, technical operations, and product management, now working at the intersection of AI, systems design, and human-centered technology. Former instructor of Media and Information Literacy and Empowerment Technologies.

Ready to think with AI —
not just at it?

Pick up Thinking Modes and start your next conversation with clarity.

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