Temperature Parameter

The temperature parameter sets the degree of randomness the model allows in token selection. Low temperature: the model takes the safest, most predictable path, selecting the statistically most probable next token. High temperature: the model reaches for less probable words, less obvious constructions, less expected turns. Engineers call this "creativity," with the same skeptical quotes, though what it actually means is that the model is less anchored to what it already knows. The Peirce volume reads the parameter through his cosmological doctrine of tychism: the stochastic variation the temperature introduces is a structural analogue of the chance-element Peirce identified as essential to creative thought. Variation, however, is not sufficient for creativity — selection is also required, and selection remains a human contribution.