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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

#21

Post by gjm11 »

AngryParsley wrote: post #16
goodside wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 Pot…

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

... If you happen to be as good at it as Eliezer Yudkowsky is. Which you probably aren't.

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

#23

Post by gwern »

AngryParsley wrote: post #16
goodside wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 Pot…

Wow. From 20k to 100k visitors? That's pretty impressive, although I didn't notice any major uptick in # of comments or new posts.

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

#24

Post by ugh »

AngryParsley wrote: post #18
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

If you liked this you should definitely also read Three Worlds Collide [1]. Heck, if you like science fiction even only a bit you should check it out. It’s a great story!

[1] http://lesswrong.com/lw/y5/the_babyeating_aliens_18/

– edit: I just submitted Three Worlds Collide because apparently nobody has done so yet: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1387771

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

#25

Post by omnipath »

merraksh wrote: post #4

You turned into a cat! A SMALL cat! You violated Conservation of Energy! (Chapter 2) Energy? I'd rather call it a violation of conservation of mass.

First all, I like this story. I think it's rather well written. But that statement in the story almost made me close my browser. Harry gets rationality in the modern-muggle world, but is very resistant, and expresses complete unwillingness to except something in the magical world until he can prove it. I feel like if I were in the story and I saw this version of Harry Potter, I'd be calling him an idiot every 4 sentences he says. Just because you don't understand something, doesn't make it impossible.

To quote Men In Black:

"Fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow. " ~ K

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

#27

Post by Prolorn »

Vivtek wrote: post #11

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.…

I found it myself just yesterday through a completely unrelated channel. Didn't catch the author at first glance! Seeing Yudkowsky linked to FF.net on HN made me do a double-take. I wonder how long it would have taken me to catch on if I hadn't stopped to finish work. Guess I must go back and finish it now!

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

#28

Post by ronnoch »

omnipath wrote: post #25
merraksh wrote: post #4

You turned into a cat! A SMALL cat! You violated Conservation of Energy! (Chapter 2) Energy? I'd rather call it a violation of conservation of mass.

First all, I like this story. I think it's rather well written. But that statement in the story almost made me close my browser. Harry gets rationality in the modern-muggle world, but is very resistant, and expresses complete unwillingness to except something in the magical world until he can prove it. I feel like if I were in the story and I saw this version of Harry Potter, I'd be calling him an idiot every 4 sente…

Good quote, but to be fair humans have known that the earth was round since 300 B.C. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spherical_Earth

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

#29

Post by losethos »

dog whistle, huh? Who's got Irish on the brain? You should get that checked.

Ouch, this must hurt...

God says... High Lastly www prunes weapon inner teeth subdued suffocated twentieth hurting justice bushel Too began books tore ere shame sole likeness Deus transforming beholdeth heinous seeking enlargedst happens venerable fragrant feast loosest warmth choleric fearful weariness covenant forehead avoided looketh better lathe speedily marked

Maybe, it's time for the Pied Piper? Vermin of all sorts...

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

#30

Post by gjm11 »

gjm11 wrote: post #21
AngryParsley wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 Pot…

Apparently if you want to get more people to visit your site, write Harry Potter fanfic. ... If you happen to be as good at it as Eliezer Yudkowsky is. Which you probably aren't.

If whoever downvoted this would like to explain why, I'd be interested.

(General consensus seems to be that HPATMOR is in fact an exceptionally good instance of Harry Potter fan-fiction. It therefore seems likely that most people are not as good at writing Harry Potter fan-fiction as Eliezer is. Ergo, his success in getting more visitors to his site by writing Harry Potter fan-fiction is not likely representative of what other people would achieve.)

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