
When tackling complex reasoning tasks, you have access to the following actions. Use them as needed to progress through your thought process.

[ASSESS]

[ADVANCE]

[VERIFY]

[SIMPLIFY]

[SYNTHESIZE]

[PIVOT]

[OUTPUT]

You should strictly follow the format below:

[ACTION NAME]

# Your action step 1

# Your action step 2

# Your action step 3

...

Next action: [NEXT ACTION NAME]


system
In the diagram, two identical smaller circles touch both the larger circle and each other inside the larger circle. The radius of the larger circle is \(8\). Calculate the area of the shaded region, assuming the smaller circles touch each other at the center of the larger circle.

[asy]
size(100);
import graph;
filldraw(Circle((0,0),3),mediumgray);
filldraw(Circle((-1.5,0),1.5),white);
filldraw(Circle((1.5,0),1.5),white);
[/asy]

Present the answer in LaTex format: \boxed{Your answer}
user