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Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality - Eliezer Yudkowsky

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Re: Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality - Eliezer Yudkowsky

#11

Post by Vivtek »

I almost posted this last night. (I was too busy reading it, though.)

I get the same feeling of open-mouthed joy from it that I get from any other Miles Vorkosigan story. It's just that this is the first Vorkosigan story I've ever read that had that Vorkosigan flair while not being written by Bujold. And, OK, not being about Miles Vorkosigan. Or so he says.

This is where I really started laughing: "Disclaimer: J. K. Rowling is watching you from where she waits, eternally in the void between worlds." A few chapters later, I was in love; it's going to be a three-way wedding; me, the Time-Turner, and Eliezer Yudkowsky.

Re: Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality - Eliezer Yudkowsky

#13

Post by loup-vaillant »

rbanffy wrote: post #9
goodside wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mass isn't conserved. The sun operates by destroying matter, as do atom bombs. Energy, which matter is a form of, is conserved. The violation isn't the turning into a cat, it's the lack of a subsequent mushroom cloud.

Well... To be fair, the added matter could be shifted into a higher dimension and detached from the cat. You would then see a small cat with the expected mass of a small cat. All you need is sufficiently advanced technology.

Plus, if you discharge the mass, you will have to somehow reclaim it when turning back into an human. Destroying the Earth wasn't a good idea to beging with, but freezing it doesn't sound better.

Re: Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality - Eliezer Yudkowsky

#14

Post by goodside »

cabalamat wrote: post #10

You bastard Eliezer! You've just wasted 4 hours of my life, just at the time when I have a rather busy schedule! No doubt this is all part of your evil plan to become a rich science fiction author, then use your money to build a self-improving AI that will conquer^H optimise the universe.

Jokes aside, writing this fanfic is certainly a curious use of time for someone charged with the task of saving the world from an apocalypse.

Re: Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality - Eliezer Yudkowsky

#15

Post by listic »

goodside wrote: post #14
cabalamat wrote: post #10

You bastard Eliezer! You've just wasted 4 hours of my life, just at the time when I have a rather busy schedule! No doubt this is all part of your evil plan to become a rich science fiction author, then use your money to build a self-improving AI that will conquer^H optimise the universe.

Jokes aside, writing this fanfic is certainly a curious use of time for someone charged with the task of saving the world from an apocalypse.

I suspect that this fanfic is hoping at its best to bring some of Harry Potter fans, of which there are many, to the understanding of rationality and participation in site lesswrong.com

A smart move to raise the sanity waterline, as Elieser puts it: http://lesswrong.com/lw/1e/raising_the_sanity_waterline/

Re: Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality - Eliezer Yudkowsky

#16

Post by AngryParsley »

goodside wrote: post #14
cabalamat wrote: post #10

You bastard Eliezer! You've just wasted 4 hours of my life, just at the time when I have a rather busy schedule! No doubt this is all part of your evil plan to become a rich science fiction author, then use your money to build a self-improving AI that will conquer^H optimise the universe.

Jokes aside, writing this fanfic is certainly a curious use of time for someone charged with the task of saving the world from an apocalypse.

From the author's notes:

I started writing this story in part because I'd bogged down on a book I was working on (now debogged), and that means my top priority was to have fun writing again.

It might have helped in other ways, too. Release of this fanfic correlates with increased traffic on LW: http://siteanalytics.compete.com/lesswrong.com

Apparently if you want to get more people to visit your site, write Harry Potter fanfic.

Re: Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality - Eliezer Yudkowsky

#18

Post by AngryParsley »

MikeCapone wrote: post #17

For more (mostly non-fiction) by Eliezer, check out: http://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Sequences

For more fiction by Eliezer, you probably want http://yudkowsky.net/other/fiction

For what many think is his most evocative writing, see http://yudkowsky.net/other/yehuda

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