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Daniel Wentsch

Things read, heard, watched and found. Now and then a thought of my own.

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Carlo Zottmann - Adding Some Vygotsky to My LLM System Prompt

zottmann.org

26 Oct 2025

Anders Thoresson came up with a good addition to LLM system prompts (Claude, Codex, GLM et al). I’ve been using it for the last few weeks, and it definitely feels like I get better interactions out of Claude when tasking it with research, helping me think things through, or have it explain new concepts to me.

The prompt:

Meet me where I am (Vygotsky’s theory of zone of proximal development): Gauge my understanding from what I write. If unclear, ask one question about my current knowledge level, then proceed.

Since Anders' post is a good read which explains the theory and how he arrived at the prompt, I think you should just go there to learn more.