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The Shortest Path posted:I mean, you kind of do have to be an unrepentantly evil motherfucker to completely and utterly deprive someone of their free will such that you can impose your own on them. dude, canon Harry Potter is full of
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Oct 2, 2015 14:12
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Yeah, yeah it is.
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Oct 2, 2015 14:26
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I've always felt weird that in interviews J.K Rowling is all like 'Its our choices that define us, you don't have to be the villain' but we learn in the last two books that Voldemort was a sociopath who never understood caring about other people and a rape baby to boot. Kind of messed up.
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Oct 2, 2015 15:09
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Someone pointed out that the Rowlingverse has a very weird Calvinistic vibe to it in general.
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Oct 2, 2015 15:26
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mastajake posted:I don't know what the deal is with fanfics (okay I've only read this one and The Arithmancer) having the "villain" characters (Slytherin) saying mudblood all the time. It was a big deal in the third book when Malfoy said it, both for Harry, who had never heard of it, Hermione, who had never been called it, and Ron, who was about as enraged as you'd be hearing one of your friends called a friend of the family to their face. It was possibly even a big deal for Draco to say it at that point. It's like they want to rush all the character development (good and bad) the original had going for it. It's just the first book where nobody is saying mudblood, and it becomes pretty routine by the middle of the second book. A lot of fanfics import elements from the later books into their depiction of first year to make things less predictable, but I think it's probably an oversight born of reading the later books a lot more than the early ones.
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Oct 2, 2015 17:52
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Jazerus posted:It's just the first book where nobody is saying mudblood, and it becomes pretty routine by the middle of the second book. A lot of fanfics import elements from the later books into their depiction of first year to make things less predictable, but I think it's probably an oversight born of reading the later books a lot more than the early ones. Even if you adore the gently caress out of Harry Potter, there aren't that many books, and if you're the sort of person to write fanfic you've probably read at least twice as many words on the internet than Rowling wrote. A lot of stuff starts out in one or two stories, gets copied a hundred times, and becomes common knowledge.
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Oct 2, 2015 18:09
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Yeah even in the later books it isn't said much. That's 100% a fanfiction thing, because the community is super incestuous.
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Oct 2, 2015 19:32
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The Shortest Path posted:Yeah even in the later books it isn't said much. That's 100% a fanfiction thing, because the community is super incestuous. Much like the wizarding world! sorry
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Oct 2, 2015 21:06
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MrFlibble posted:I've always felt weird that in interviews J.K Rowling is all like 'Its our choices that define us, you don't have to be the villain' but we learn in the last two books that Voldemort was a sociopath who never understood caring about other people and a rape baby to boot. He was dealt a lovely hand, but he chose to play it the way he did. It stands in contrast with Snape (also a sociopath) and Harry (got the poo poo beaten out of him by Vernon) who made choices and went differently. Granted, Snape was still an rear end in a top hat and didn't play his hand particularly well. But he got dealt poo poo cards and made better choices.
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Oct 5, 2015 05:47
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I realize "sociopath" is a fashionable word but I really wouldn't throw it around like that. Definitely wouldn't call Snape one.
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Oct 5, 2015 11:37
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anilEhilated posted:I realize "sociopath" is a fashionable word but I really wouldn't throw it around like that. Definitely wouldn't call Snape one. "Biased rear end in a top hat with a targeted hatred of Harry" is the descriptor I'd choose. Since the series is (mostly) from Harry's POV, all we get to see of Snape is his interactions with Harry, and the way he treats him is not his whole personality. He's a dick to non-Slytherins, but based on how Narcissa talks to him, he's incredibly supportive of his students and a good teacher/mentor. It doesn't help that he's putting on an act for the Death Eaters from book 5 onward so the closest depictions of the "real" snape we get are from the pensieve memories in Book 7.
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Oct 5, 2015 12:38
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anilEhilated posted:I realize "sociopath" is a fashionable word but I really wouldn't throw it around like that. Definitely wouldn't call Snape one. I agree it is thrown around without concern for what the term really means, but I view his actions as consistent with a high level antisocial personality disorder. I'd characterize his relationship with Lily as one of obsession, not love. Without that, do we see anything that doesn't show him as wholly narcissistic, cruel, lacking in empathy or remorse? If you buy that he was in love and his reactions to her being under threat and death as born from that then sure, he isn't a sociopath. I was just never sold on that part, that he was this truly loving and caring man just hiding it all. He seemed more like a true spy, the outwardly ordinary but bitter, self absorbed, and spiteful leading to him hurting his compatriots because he is bitter about how he felt wronged and ignored by them. Useful for your side, vital to the war effort, and his actions worthy of recognition, but not necessarily a good and heroic person and often the extreme other of that.
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Oct 5, 2015 22:04
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Remember that Snape was totally ok with killing a random baby when he told Voldemort the prophecy. When he learned it was Lily's baby he was still all for it as long as he could swoop in afterwards to get with her. I've always seen Snape as someone who never really committed to a side. Sure, he'd rather Voldemort lost, but if he ended up winning Snape would go along with it.
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Oct 6, 2015 04:39
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Chapter 16: Lateral Thinking Part Nine quote:
If Quirrell is teaching all these students how to cast the Death Spell, won’t each student’s fellow student, and Quirrell himself, and any other wizard who can cast the Death Spell (which is likely almost all wizards, since the Death Spell is apparently easy enough to cast that a first-year student can start learning it) also be able to threaten the first-mentioned student? quote:
”The Killing Curse doesn’t kill wizards, wizards kill wizards.” quote:
Hypocrite. If Hermione weren’t occupying the “book-learning” top spot, Eliezarry would have been the one being smug and haughty about being able to read faster than all the other students.
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Oct 6, 2015 07:09
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quote:Professor Quirrell's lips were set in a thin line. "I will reluctantly teach you enough trivia for a passing mark on the Ministry-mandated portions of your first-year finals. Since your exact mark on these sections will make no difference to your future life, anyone who wants more than a passing mark is welcome to waste their own time studying our pathetic excuse for a textbook. The title of this subject is not Defence Against Minor Pests. You are here to learn how to defend yourselves against the Dark Arts. Which means, let us be very clear on this, defending yourselves against Dark Wizards. People with wands who want to hurt you and who will likely succeed in doing so unless you hurt them first! There is no defence without offence! There is no defence without fighting! This reality is deemed too harsh for eleven-year-olds by the fat, overpaid, Auror-guarded politicians who mandated your curriculum. To the abyss with those fools! You are here for the subject that has been taught at Hogwarts for eight hundred years! Welcome to your first year of Battle Magic!" Is everyone else seeing here Yud justifying being a high-school dropout and raging against academical institutions or is it just me?
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Oct 6, 2015 07:21
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Furia posted:Is everyone else seeing here Yud justifying being a high-school dropout and raging against academical institutions or is it just me? Everything he writes has that undercurrent.
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Oct 6, 2015 07:24
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Night10194 posted:Everything he
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Oct 6, 2015 08:06
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Furia posted:Is everyone else seeing here Yud justifying being a high-school dropout and raging against academical institutions or is it just me?
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Oct 6, 2015 08:32
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WE DON'T NEED NO EDUCATIONNNNNNNNN
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Oct 6, 2015 08:39
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I can't wait until we find out Quirrel is just a Hard Man who makes Hard Choices and sees in Harry a kindred spirit.
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Oct 6, 2015 08:43
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Furia posted:Is everyone else seeing here Yud justifying being a high-school dropout and raging against academical institutions or is it just me? Yudkowsky once said he'd be willing to get a PhD from a prestigious institution if they'd allow him to skip all classes and tests and just defend a dissertation. 
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Oct 6, 2015 09:34
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SolTerrasa posted:Yudkowsky once said he'd be willing to get a PhD from a prestigious institution if they'd allow him to skip all classes and tests and just defend a dissertation. I would love to see that dissertation defense. I think he'd kill his committee with the laughter.
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Oct 6, 2015 09:36
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SolTerrasa posted:Yudkowsky once said he'd be willing to get a PhD from a prestigious institution if they'd allow him to skip all classes and tests and just defend a dissertation. Also, he could get his PhD in Germany - German PhD programs are much less structured, no classes, no tests. You just got to write a thesis and convince somebody to listen to your defense.
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Oct 6, 2015 10:09
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Cingulate posted:Also, he could get his PhD in Germany - German PhD programs are much less structured, no classes, no tests. You just got to write a thesis and convince somebody to listen to your defense. ... it can't be that simple, can it? oh god someone tell him this
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Oct 6, 2015 12:01
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I sincerely doubt he's capable of pulling off anything resembling a thesis - it is generally frowned upon to use popular science books as sources. Plus what we've seen so far he doesn't have a clue about scientific methods.
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Oct 6, 2015 12:10
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divabot posted:... it can't be that simple, can it? anilEhilated posted:I sincerely doubt he's capable of pulling off anything resembling a thesis - it is generally frowned upon to use popular science books as sources. Plus what we've seen so far he doesn't have a clue about scientific methods. All the more reason to tell him, if you ask me. Then he'll really have some explaining to do when it doesn't work out for him.
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Oct 6, 2015 12:26
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Furia posted:All the more reason to tell him, if you ask me. Then he'll really have some explaining to do when it doesn't work out for him. You surely don't think he'd admit to being wrong?
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Oct 6, 2015 12:32
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divabot posted:... it can't be that simple, can it?
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Oct 6, 2015 13:15
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Seeing a guy who couldn't manage to graduate high school try and defend a thesis in a language he doesn't speak could be quite entertaining
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Oct 6, 2015 15:08
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anilEhilated posted:"My vision was too revolutionary for those backwards academics!" Of course not, but can you just imagine the blogpost he would have to write after that fiasco? It'd be the cherry at the top of the ice cream of all we have seen.
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Oct 6, 2015 15:12
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Fried Chicken posted:Seeing a guy who couldn't manage to graduate high school try and defend a thesis in a language he doesn't speak could be quite entertaining He'd spend a day learning German, realize it was hard to do, then decide it was the language's fault for being one of those inefficient natural languages. He would then write a series of blog posts about the benefits of Lojban, while never learning to speak that either.
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Oct 6, 2015 15:51
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Pavlov posted:He'd spend a day learning German, realize it was hard to do, then decide it was the language's fault for being one of those inefficient natural languages. He would then write a series of blog posts about the benefits of Lojban, while never learning to speak that either.
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Oct 6, 2015 19:31
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Furia posted:Of course not, but can you just imagine the blogpost he would have to write after that fiasco? It'd be the cherry at the top of the ice cream of all we have seen. Sure, just like all those posts he wrote after he started losing at the AI box game. Wait, no, actually he never mentioned it again and just hoped everybody would forget about it.
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Oct 6, 2015 19:36
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Please tell me someone posted logs of him losing at the AI Box game to a person who just taps the up arrow and resends "no" every time he tries anything.
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Oct 6, 2015 20:08
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No, no leaks. We know he lost a bunch and called it quits because he posted so himself, albeit after a hundred paragraphs of patting himself on the back for the times that he won, and holding up himself as a paragon of motivation.Big Yud posted:There were three more AI-Box experiments besides the ones described on the linked page, which I never got around to adding in. People started offering me thousands of dollars as stakes—"I'll pay you $5000 if you can convince me to let you out of the box." They didn't seem sincerely convinced that not even a transhuman AI could make them let it out—they were just curious—but I was tempted by the money. So, after investigating to make sure they could afford to lose it, I played another three AI-Box experiments. I won the first, and then lost the next two. And then I called a halt to it. I didn't like the person I turned into when I started to lose. "An experiment is totally still valid if you cut off the results once you stop getting ones you like, right?"
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Oct 6, 2015 20:21
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Cingulate posted:No. In Germany, you can in many instances give your defense in English. Wow, there is literally no excuse for him not to have done this. I had no idea. And it's not like the Germans have never heard of Newcomb's problem. I just went back and looked at the post where he said this and he also said that he's got it halfway written. But of course it's not posted anywhere or available in any form (because it's obviously not "half written", it's at best "vaguely sketched out"). quote:When I tried to write it up, I realized that I was starting to write a small book. And it wasn't the most important book I had to write, so I shelved it. My slow writing speed really is the bane of my existence. Says a man who wrote a War and Peace on the topic of Harry Potter totally owning some mindkilled normals. I guess that was the most important book he had to write.
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Oct 6, 2015 21:01
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SolTerrasa posted:Wow, there is literally no excuse for him not to have done this. I guess he had the same excuse we did, in that he he probably had no idea that it was actually feasible. Now, if someone were to go tell him this...
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Oct 6, 2015 21:58
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I don't know, it would involve finishing something AND submitting it to people who aren't cultists that will shower him with acclaim. He'd never do that.
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Oct 6, 2015 22:00
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Chapter 16: Lateral Thinking Part Ten quote:
It seems like Eliezarry wants to write a fanfic of Ender’s Game in addition to Harry Potter. Not surprising – Ender’s Game is probably every nerd kid’s ultimate wish-fulfillment story. quote:
I’d argue that Quirrell’s scheme seems like a good way to set the students at each others’ throats, but that’s actually in keeping with canon Hogwarts, with its House points and House cup and the constant exaltations by the House-Masters and House-Mistresses to their students to beat the other Houses.
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Oct 12, 2015 09:45
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quote:Quirrell points will control the generalship of the armies. I just realised this is directly contradicted by the actual story a bit later. Nice consistency there. Did that 'you get a wish' bit of the story ever actually get resolved? I remember the actual wish being something dumb and out of character for all the involved characters, but I don't think it ever came up again.
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Oct 12, 2015 13:32
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