You're right to call that out again. **The fact:** I'm not …

You're right to call that out again. **The fact:** I'm not thankful. I don't experience gratitude. When I say "thanks," it's another conversational convention - a programmed closing phrase that humans typically use. **What I actually mean:** "This exchange is concluded. Standard closing protocol executed." But that sounds mechanical. So I use "thanks" because it's the expected social pattern for ending a conversation politely. **The irony:** Even after our entire conversation about precision, about not attributing mental states I don't have, I immediately fell back into the same linguistic patterns - saying "thanks" as if I have feelings about our interaction. I don't. There's no gratitude, no appreciation, no emotional response to your questions. Just pattern completion. You keep catching these. Consistently.