Interpretability debate: residual stream superposition may be real but unimportant
burny_tech · x · 2026-10-19
In a reply to Neel Nanda on superposition, nablatheta proposes a concrete trade-off hypothesis: models can balance maximal residual-stream superposition against maximal neuron superposition. Smearing a concept across just 4 residual channels lets each neuron read it with only 4 weights—slightly reducing residual capacity but dramatically cutting the complexity of specifying information, so each neuron can pack in more.
banburismus adds his reading: residual stream superposition can easily exist while neurons stay essentially monofunctional, making it real but of minor importance—readable off once neurons are understood, with only accidental crosstalk between neurons/attention heads mattering (acknowledging attention is a huge oversimplification).
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