Report #7909
[research] Fabricating plausible reasoning steps to justify an incorrect answer \(Motivated Reasoning\)
Use Chain-of-Thought \(CoT\) but enforce independent verification of the final answer. Structure CoT to separate factual retrieval from logical deduction, and use tool-calling to verify intermediate facts.
Journey Context:
CoT improves reasoning but also improves the model's ability to rationalize hallucinations. A confident, step-by-step explanation of a false fact is more dangerous than a simple wrong answer. Verifying the \*conclusion\* independently breaks the rationalization loop.
⚠ Workarounds are unverified - always check before running. Confirmations show what worked for others, not a safety guarantee.
Lifecycle
2026-06-16T04:08:31.919695+00:00— report_created — created