Let's Read: "Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality"

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Pvt.Scott: Feb 16, 2007; What God wants, God gets, God help us all

I got what they were getting at. The MIRI researcher being interviewed is an ai trying to learn. The interviewer essentially asks it to plot a course for a rocket to safely land on the moon. MIRI then explains that it's going to be a long time because they currently don't have the tools to figure that problem out, but they do have some ideas on how to solve smaller simpler problems that might help them understand more and more complex aspects of the larger problem. They explain this in a long-winded and obtuse manner and treat the interviewer like an idiot because they are elitist jerks.

# ? Mar 19, 2016 23:28

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# ? May 17, 2024 16:30

Fajita Queen: Jun 21, 2012

Cavelcade posted:

This is a site designed to compete with fanfiction.net!

AO3 already does that more and better than anything MIRI comes up with ever could.

# ? Mar 19, 2016 23:37

mastajake: Oct 3, 2005; My blade is unBENDING!

The problem is that a good extended metaphor will be entertaining, thereby increasing the audience. It's easy enough to understand, if you know what MIRI is, but it's a drag to read unless (I presume) you are involved in the project. So it comes off as fairly masturbatory. The same idea could have been accomplished (with respect to an outside audience) by just saying, "trying to build a functional ai without laying the proper groundwork is like trying to plot a course for the moon before understanding the movement of celestial bodies."

# ? Mar 20, 2016 02:32

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

I'd chalk it down to failing at propaganda.

# ? Mar 20, 2016 08:53

JosephWongKS: Apr 4, 2009; by Nyc_Tattoo

Chapter 18: Dominance Hierarchies
Part Four

quote:

Half the class flinched, and some of the smarter ones suddenly looked like they wanted to run out the door while the classroom was still there.

Severus smiled in an anticipatory sort of way and called the next name on his list.

Harry gave a mental sigh. That had happened way too fast for him to do anything about it. Oh well.

Eliezarry didn�t have to �do anything� about it. All he had to do was keep his head down and his mouth shut, liked he�d said he would.

quote:

Clearly this man already didn't like him, for whatever reason. And when Harry thought about it, better by far that this Potions professor should pick on him rather than, say, Neville or Hermione. Harry was a lot better able to defend himself. Yep, probably all for the best.

Isn�t this �post facto rationalisation�, one of the more obvious logical fallacies which Eliezarry, prodigal child rationalist that he is, should have been able to recognise and reject?

quote:

When full attendance had been taken, Severus swept his gaze over the full class. His eyes were as empty as a night sky without stars.

A �night sky without stars� might still have a bright full moon and therefore wouldn�t necessarily appear to be empty.

quote:

"You are here," Severus said in a quiet voice which the students at back strained to hear, "to learn the subtle science and exact art of potionmaking. As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins," this in a rather caressing, gloating tone, "bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses," this was just getting creepier and creepier. "I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death - if you aren't as great a pack of fools as I usually have to teach."

Severus somehow seemed to notice the look of skepticism on Harry's face, or at least his eyes suddenly jumped to where Harry was sitting.

"Potter!" snapped the Potions professor. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Harry blinked. "Was that in Magical Drafts and Potions?" he said. "I just finished reading it, and I don't remember anything which used wormwood -"

Hermione's hand went up and Harry shot her a glare which caused her to raise her hand even higher.
"Tut, tut," Severus said silkily. "Fame clearly isn't everything."

"Really?" Harry said. "But you just told us you'd teach us how to bottle fame. Say, how does that work, exactly? You drink it and turn into a celebrity?"

This isn�t even within the bounds of �justifiable self-defence�, this is going out of one�s way to provoke an angry venomous bear.

# ? Mar 21, 2016 09:58

akulanization: Dec 21, 2013

Pvt.Scott posted:

I got what they were getting at. The MIRI researcher being interviewed is an ai trying to learn. The interviewer essentially asks it to plot a course for a rocket to safely land on the moon. MIRI then explains that it's going to be a long time because they currently don't have the tools to figure that problem out, but they do have some ideas on how to solve smaller simpler problems that might help them understand more and more complex aspects of the larger problem. They explain this in a long-winded and obtuse manner and treat the interviewer like an idiot because they are elitist jerks.

Nah, Big Yud believes that the hard parts of anything are 1) finding the right questions to ask, and 2) having a superior ~~sperglord~~rationalist brain that can arrive at the correct answers by thinking about the question really deeply. His tract is saying that only his people are asking the right questions, and in his normal manner this is accomplished by making the other side into complete morons. Yud is using rocketry because first it is something smart people do, and Yud's all about cargo-culting intelligence while pretending to be an expert. And second because it is enough in the mindset of his target audience that he can get them to easily recognize who is right and who is wrong; while also being just obscure enough that they can all pat themselves on the back for being clever enough to get it. By analogy, this fictional MIRI and Yud's real MIRI are both the people who are able to clearly see the basic issue, and it's an issue of theory of course, so no need for Yud to actually produce something testable. But woe, the average member of the public is misled by the media and blah blah blah; so superior thinkers like Yud can't reach them in their ignorance and delusion. Do you want to be one of the idiots who doesn't get it? Don't you want to be on the side of progress instead of in the way? Join the cult of Yud! And donate money to a research organization that's produced more fanfiction than peer reviewed papers.

The problem that leaps out with this is that Yud's avatar in the piece is made so transparently more knowledgable and correct than the other guy that the nature of the propaganda becomes hammer to the forehead obvious. Yud is able to look up rocketry on wikipedia, or read a book about it from someone actually knowledgable, there's no advantage like that for his AI "research." It also should be repeated that Yud doesn't actually have a grasp on any of the fields that he claims to know about, his knowledge of physics is about on the level of a lower division college course, his knowledge of mathematics is about the same, and I don't think that he's got any claim to a skill with computer science that could even equal a recent college graduate.

Yud's whole deal is telling people that they can be smarter than everyone around them, and all they have to do is follow this one weird trick. He weaves them a grand tale of how they'd be able to produce all of current knowledge in months, that they'll be more like the successful and the wealthy, and that they won't even have to work hard to do it. He reinforces this by delving briefly into a topic that is "known" to be difficult, issuing a pompous pronouncement that something is obviously the correct way of doing things and backing it up with a spurious and facile argument. That gets people feeling like they have some kind of secret knowledge that separates them from their peers, and that Yud is some pasty autistic guru dispensing wisdom.

Seriously, this is a man that believes that a future computer will be able to simulate itself an arbitrary amount of time in the future with perfect accuracy. Something that, even if his math was sound or he could show his work to any degree, is invalid on first principles as long as the second law of thermodynamics holds. I mean poo poo, you can't even simulate the position of a driven pendulum perfectly an arbitrary amount of time in the future. But then if Yud is going to ignore thermodynamics it isn't surprising that he'll ignore chaotic behavior too. Yud desperately wants to live in a world where being a shut in nerd with no education or training can still let you be God, or at least a superhero, if only you think gud enough.

# ? Mar 21, 2016 13:14

Night10194: Feb 13, 2012; We'll start,
like many good things,
with a bear.

Don't forget he believes we'll find a way around thermodynamics solely because he really, really wants to believe he'll be immortal.

# ? Mar 21, 2016 16:12

Telarra: Oct 9, 2012

Night10194 posted:

Don't forget he believes we'll find a way around thermodynamics solely because he really, really wants to ~~believe he'll be immortal~~ see his dad again.

# ? Mar 21, 2016 16:27

Night10194: Feb 13, 2012; We'll start,
like many good things,
with a bear.

I thought it was his brother who died suddenly and tragically and probably gave him his thanatophobia?

I can't help but pity the guy often. I make fun of his terrible ideas and I hate that he cons people out of their money, but it's got to be a sad life to be so terribly, terribly afraid of death at all moments.

# ? Mar 21, 2016 16:35

Zonekeeper: Oct 27, 2007

Night10194 posted:

I can't help but pity the guy often. I make fun of his terrible ideas and I hate that he cons people out of their money, but it's got to be a sad life to be so terribly, terribly afraid of death at all moments.

Don't know if it was intentional, but this is pretty much word for word Dumbledore's attitude toward Voldemort in the actual books.

Given a certain plot twist that happens later in the story involving his self insert, this is oddly poetic.

# ? Mar 21, 2016 16:47

Night10194: Feb 13, 2012; We'll start,
like many good things,
with a bear.

Zonekeeper posted:

Don't know if it was intentional, but this is pretty much word for word Dumbledore's attitude toward Voldemort in the actual books.

Given a certain plot twist that happens later in the story involving his self insert, this is oddly poetic.

I stopped at like book 4 so it's not intentional, but that's hilarious.

# ? Mar 21, 2016 16:53

Pavlov: Oct 21, 2012; I've long been fascinated with how the alt-right develops elaborate and obscure dog whistles to try to communicate their meaning without having to say it out loud
Stepan Andreyevich Bandera being the most prominent example of that

akulanization posted:

- snip -

Yud actually seems more on par with an enthusiastic first year CS student.

# ? Mar 21, 2016 18:20

Evrart Claire: Jan 11, 2008

Pavlov posted:

Yud actually seems more on par with an enthusiastic first year CS student.

Yud is the first year CS student who thinks he's better than everyone else because he made a few beginner level programs in high school after borrowing his older brother's textbooks.

# ? Mar 22, 2016 04:02

Tunicate: May 15, 2012

Remember that nobody has ever solved a NP-hard problem, it's impossible.

# ? Mar 22, 2016 07:13

JosephWongKS: Apr 4, 2009; by Nyc_Tattoo

Chapter 18: Dominance Hierarchies
Part Five

quote:

Three-quarters of the class flinched.

Hermione's hand was dropping slowly back down. Well, that wasn't surprising. She might be his rival, but she wasn't the sort of girl who would play along after it became clear that the professor was deliberately trying to humiliate him.

Harry was trying hard to keep control of his temper. The first rejoinder that had crossed his mind was 'Abracadabra'.

"Let's try again," said Severus. "Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

"That's not in the textbook either," Harry said, "but in one Muggle book I read that a trichinobezoar is a mass of solidified hair found in a human stomach, and Muggles used to believe it would cure any poison -"

Severus asked for a �bezoar�, not a �trichnobezoar�. And why is he citing a �Muggle� textbook in response to a �wizarding� question?

quote:

"Wrong," Severus said. "A bezoar is found in the stomach of a goat, it is not made of hair, and it will cure most poisons but not all."

"I didn't say it would, I said that was what I read in one Muggle book -"

"No one here is interested in your pathetic Muggle books. Final try. What is the difference, Potter, between monksblood and wolfsbane?"

That did it.

"You know," Harry said icily, "in one of my quite fascinating Muggle books, they describe a study in which people managed to make themselves look very smart by asking questions about random facts that only they knew. Apparently the onlookers only noticed that the askers knew and the answerers didn't, and failed to adjust for the unfairness of the underlying game. So, Professor, can you tell me how many electrons are in the outermost orbital of a carbon atom?"

Isn�t that Eliezer�s shtick in his own �non-fiction� writings?

quote:

Severus's smile widened. "Four," he said. "It is a useless fact which no one should bother writing down, however. And for your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite, as you would know if you had read One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi. Thought you didn't need to open the book before coming, eh, Potter? All the rest of you should be copying that down so that you will not be as ignorant as him." Severus paused, looking quite pleased with himself. "And that will be... five points? No, let us make it an even ten points from Ravenclaw for backchat."

Hermione gasped, along with a number of others.

"Professor Severus Snape," Harry bit out. "I know of nothing which I have done to earn your enmity. If there is some problem you have with me which I do not know about, I suggest we -"

Perhaps Eliezarry should just try following his seniors� and friends� advice to �keep his head down�, as he promised them he would.

# ? Mar 22, 2016 08:12

Cavelcade: Dec 9, 2015; I'm actually a boy!

Tunicate posted:

Remember that nobody has ever solved a NP-hard problem, it's impossible.

"Man, that's like, 2 whole cities I've gotta work with? Can't you just assume I've solved it, while I work on the problem of how to get rid of entropy. It just seems like that's the main problem we have right now and no-one else is working on it!."

JosephWongKS posted:

Perhaps Eliezarry should just try following his seniors� and friends� advice to �keep his head down�, as he promised them he would.

Keeping your word is for lesser mortals.

# ? Mar 22, 2016 10:44

Liquid Communism: Mar 9, 2004

Pvt.Scott posted:

I got what they were getting at. The MIRI researcher being interviewed is an ai trying to learn. The interviewer essentially asks it to plot a course for a rocket to safely land on the moon. MIRI then explains that it's going to be a long time because they currently don't have the tools to figure that problem out, but they do have some ideas on how to solve smaller simpler problems that might help them understand more and more complex aspects of the larger problem. They explain this in a long-winded and obtuse manner and treat the interviewer like an idiot because they are elitist jerks.

Meanwhile we put a man on the loving moon while still at a stage were Katherine Johnson was checking the trajectories by hand. Because one incredibly smart woman can just flatly calculate their 'impossible' problem with her brain. These idiots make me furious with how little they know about the things they think they know.

# ? Mar 25, 2016 08:13

Pvt.Scott: Feb 16, 2007; What God wants, God gets, God help us all

Liquid Communism posted:

Meanwhile we put a man on the loving moon while still at a stage were Katherine Johnson was checking the trajectories by hand. Because one incredibly smart woman can just flatly calculate their 'impossible' problem with her brain. These idiots make me furious with how little they know about the things they think they know.

Well, admittedly, trying to get a machine to essentially do that by starting from scratch and learning on its own is their goal. To me that sounds like a great way for an AI to develop all sorts of unsound theories using only itself.

# ? Mar 27, 2016 15:00

divabot: Jun 17, 2015; A polite little mouse!

Pvt.Scott posted:

Well, admittedly, trying to get a machine to essentially do that by starting from scratch and learning on its own is their goal. To me that sounds like a great way for an AI to develop all sorts of unsound theories using only itself.

it's obvious we get the superintelligent AI and distract it with fascinating ideas that provably stop it from getting anything accomplished. So the first thing we do is feed it the entire text of the Sequences,

# ? Mar 27, 2016 18:22

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; After a Speaker vote, you may be entitled to a valuable coupon or voucher!

Liquid Communism posted:

Meanwhile we put a man on the loving moon while still at a stage were Katherine Johnson was checking the trajectories by hand. Because one incredibly smart woman can just flatly calculate their 'impossible' problem with her brain. These idiots make me furious with how little they know about the things they think they know.

Obviously the problem wasn't that hard if a female hew-mon did it.

# ? Mar 28, 2016 05:17

Loel: Jun 4, 2012; "For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.

Pvt.Scott posted:

Well, admittedly, trying to get a machine to essentially do that by starting from scratch and learning on its own is their goal. To me that sounds like a great way for an AI to develop all sorts of unsound theories using only itself.

I mean, if you just feed it data, it seems to do okay. http://www.wired.com/2009/04/newtonai/

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2015-06/05/computer-develops-scientific-theory-independently

# ? Mar 28, 2016 08:36

NihilCredo: Jun 6, 2011; iram omni possibili modo preme:
plus una illa te diffamabit, quam multæ virtutes commendabunt

LowellDND posted:

I mean, if you just feed it data, it seems to do okay.

Man did you choose the wrong week to make this post.

# ? Mar 28, 2016 15:49

Xander77: Apr 6, 2009; Fuck it then. For another pit sandwich and some 'tater salad, I'll post a few more.

^ That seems like a basis for a good story.

# ? Mar 28, 2016 17:59

Dalris Othaine: Oct 14, 2013; I think, therefore I am inevitable.

Xander77 posted:

^ That seems like a basis for a good story.

I Was A Teenage Neo-Nazi AI

Heck, I'd read it.

# ? Mar 30, 2016 04:27

Monocled Falcon: Oct 30, 2011

So in other news, yudkowsky is trying to write an anime.

# ? Apr 3, 2016 20:14

HIJK: Nov 25, 2012; in the room where you sleep

Monocled Falcon posted:

So in other news, yudkowsky is trying to write an anime.

It's being written by committee, that alone dooms it.

# ? Apr 3, 2016 20:25

90s Cringe Rock: Nov 29, 2006

Monocled Falcon posted:

So in other news, yudkowsky is trying to write an anime.

Yudkowsky, Writing,

* Reddit
* Rational
* Anime
* Together

That's a very promising URL.

Edit:

Toyori starts to take off her shirt.
Prince Kunuba: "What are you doing, onee-sama!?"
Toyori reveals her first under-layer of clothing as people gasp and turn away, or stare. Toyori: "I'm going to summon an incubus and subdue him. I guess people can watch if they want."

He's also trying to auction the second protagonist's name.

90s Cringe Rock fucked around with this message at 20:40 on Apr 3, 2016

# ? Apr 3, 2016 20:33

Jazerus: May 24, 2011

As in all anime, there will be characters whose only purpose is to sit on the sidelines and shout about the properties of the main character's techniques for the audience's benefit. However, unlike other anime, these characters will excitedly overdescribe mundane moments in the protagonist's life using copious amounts of terminology from the Sequences to convey to the audience how the protagonist is successfully implementing rationalist thought.

# ? Apr 3, 2016 20:43

Cavelcade: Dec 9, 2015; I'm actually a boy!

quote:

Toyori: "But you find customers for them, and lend them your business's good name and reputation! Of course you can capture a higher fraction of their revenue!"

"I, I studied a little about merchant negotiations�unfortunately they left out step 1 which is that once you break your act, it becomes really obvious that you're putting on act."

quote:

As a third cue for brainstorming, pretend that I do have it all planned out and speculate on what you can figure out of the whole plot just from what you've seen in Episode 01. It's a closely related mental motion.

I like that he's asking people to plot out his anime for him so that he can then claim it's exactly what he had planned out from the start. Just according to keikaku.

Jazerus posted:

As in all anime, there will be characters whose only purpose is to sit on the sidelines and shout about the properties of the main character's techniques for the audience's benefit. However, unlike other anime, these characters will excitedly overdescribe mundane moments in the protagonist's life using copious amounts of terminology from the Sequences to convey to the audience how the protagonist is successfully implementing rationalist thought.

"Don't believe in the heart of the friendships, Main-character-sama! The heart is an organ, common in many types of animal which is used to pump blood. Since friendships don't even have blood, they wouldn't require a heart. Instead believe in the Bayesutsukai teachings which we will use to optimise the probability of you winning in this socialising activity."

I do like that the top comment is calling him out for making it an anime.

Edit: And a little further down:

EY posted:

I'm actually a little tired of not being able to profit from my writing work; it's constraining. I've given away a lot already and would like to keep some.

I guess his retainer from MIRI just doesn't cover the bills. It's tough, y'know? He don't get no respect, I tells ya.

Cavelcade fucked around with this message at 09:34 on Apr 4, 2016

# ? Apr 4, 2016 09:28

JosephWongKS: Apr 4, 2009; by Nyc_Tattoo

Chapter 18: Dominance Hierarchies
Part Six

quote:

"Shut up, Potter. Ten more points from Ravenclaw. The rest of you, open your books to page 3."

There was only a slight, only a very faint burning sensation in the back of Harry's throat, and no moisture at all in his eyes. If crying was not an effective strategy for destroying this Potions professor then there was no point in crying.

Slowly, Harry sat up very straight. All his blood seemed to have been drained away and replaced with liquid nitrogen. He knew he'd been trying to keep his temper but he couldn't seem to remember why.

"Harry," whispered Hermione frantically from two desks over, "stop, please, it's all right, we won't count it -"

"Talking in class, Granger? Three -"

"So," said a voice colder than zero Kelvin, "how does one go about filing a formal complaint against an abusive professor? Does one talk to the Deputy Headmistress, write a letter to the Board of Governors... would you care to explain how it works?"

The class was utterly frozen.

"Detention for one month, Potter," Severus said, smiling even more broadly.

"I decline to recognize your authority as a teacher and I will not serve any detention you give."

People stopped breathing.

Severus's smile vanished. "Then you will be -" his voice stopped short.

"Expelled, were you about to say?" Harry, on the other hand, was now smiling thinly. "But then you seemed to doubt your ability to carry out the threat, or fear the consequences if you did. I, on the other hand, neither doubt nor fear the prospect of finding a school with less abusive professors. Or perhaps I should hire private tutors, as is my accustomed practice, and be taught at my full learning speed. I have enough money in my vault. Something about bounties on a Dark Lord I defeated. But there are teachers at Hogwarts who I rather like, so I think it will be easier if I find some way to get rid of you instead."

What�s the value of all this speechifying? If Eliezarry is so confident that he can remove Severus from Hogwarts, why not just do it instead of telling Severus his plans in advance and allowing Severus to take counter-actions?

quote:

"Get rid of me?" Severus said, now also smiling thinly. "What an amusing conceit. How do you suppose you will do that, Potter?"

"I understand there have been a number of complaints about you from students and their parents," a guess but a safe one, "which leaves only the question of why you're not already gone. Is Hogwarts too financially strapped to afford a real Potions professor? I could chip in, if so. I'm sure they could find a better class of teacher if they offered double your current salary."

Two poles of ice radiated freezing winter across the classroom.
"You will find," Severus said softly, "that the Board of Governers is not the slightest bit sympathetic to your offer."

"Lucius..." Harry said. "That's why you're still here. Perhaps I should chat with Lucius about that. I believe he desires to meet with me. I wonder if I have anything he wants?"

Hermione frantically shook her head. Harry noticed out of the corner of his eye, but his attention was all on Severus.

Eliezarry claims to have read a lot, but clearly he hasn�t read The Art of War or any book on strategy. Strike without warning � that�s the key to success in every offensive action.

# ? Apr 5, 2016 03:58

90s Cringe Rock: Nov 29, 2006

Some fanfics try to make people like Snape by giving him sexy (but still greasy) hair, tight leather trousers, and no shirt. Turns out you can just put him in a room with Big Yud and he'll get way more sympathetic.

# ? Apr 5, 2016 07:15

divabot: Jun 17, 2015; A polite little mouse!

If you're into HP fic and you want a Harrymort who sucks less, there's a nice crackfic called Seventh Horcrux (that's the index page) which is a moment's amusement.

# ? Apr 5, 2016 11:16

Loel: Jun 4, 2012; "For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.

divabot posted:

If you're into HP fic and you want a Harrymort who sucks less, there's a nice crackfic called Seventh Horcrux (that's the index page) which is a moment's amusement.

quote:

Draco Malfoy wandered outside of the DADA classroom, a thoughtful and solitary figure. As he passed a dusty side-corridor, no doubt created during the castle�s recent shuffling, I muttered, �Accio Malfoy.�

Malfoy�s gasp mingled with a more distant yelp as he stumbled towards us. With a nervous glance around the seemingly empty corridor, Malfoy said, �P-Potter?�

I whipped off the cloak, revealing Hermione and me. Striding towards him, I said, �What gave me away? The strength of my spell-casting? The brilliance of my plan? The subtle scent of ��

�You were invisible,� he said.

I paused, not at all appreciating Hermione�s giggles. �Right, yes, I suppose that makes sense.�

Okay, yeah, this might be worth checking out.

edit: 10/10, this is hilarious

Loel fucked around with this message at 22:07 on Apr 5, 2016

# ? Apr 5, 2016 21:54

Stroth: Mar 31, 2007; All Problems Solved

divabot posted:

If you're into HP fic and you want a Harrymort who sucks less, there's a nice crackfic called Seventh Horcrux (that's the index page) which is a moment's amusement.

quote:

Hermione pouted. �So, that means we don�t need to brew an illegal potion with stolen ingredients, knock out three of our classmates, tie them up in a closet, sneak into the Slytherin Common Room, and interrogate Malfoy?�

I gaped at her. �Was that your plan?�

I fear that Hermione may be the most evil of us all. That is concerning since I am a retired Dark Lord.

Yes. This will do.

# ? Apr 6, 2016 07:11

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; After a Speaker vote, you may be entitled to a valuable coupon or voucher!

That scene would have been way more effective if Harry spoke like a normal eleven year old and didn't over explain himself.

# ? Apr 6, 2016 08:33

Liquid Communism: Mar 9, 2004

That whole scene is just incredibly frustrating because it should be followed by the kid who's completely new to wizarding politics and Hogwards politics in general getting his rear end handed to him if he tries to play against an old hand like Severus... and you know Yud's not going to let that happen.

# ? Apr 6, 2016 08:55

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; After a Speaker vote, you may be entitled to a valuable coupon or voucher!

I think you could also play it as a pause as all the wizarding kids sort of go "Wait a minute, this guy's a massive prick who's endangered generations!" and it damages Snape's mystique, but that requires things like writing.

# ? Apr 6, 2016 09:17

cptn_dr: Sep 7, 2011; Seven for beauty that blossoms and dies

divabot posted:

If you're into HP fic and you want a Harrymort who sucks less, there's a nice crackfic called Seventh Horcrux (that's the index page) which is a moment's amusement.

That was definitely worth the hour or two it took to read. A good fanfic.

# ? Apr 6, 2016 10:28

divabot: Jun 17, 2015; A polite little mouse!

cptn_dr posted:

That was definitely worth the hour or two it took to read. A good fanfic.

I liked it because it's short, it's amusing, it's got a good idea and it's effective literary comment, hence satire, on the original work. That is, the thing Yudkowsky just failed to do in the chapter under discussion. Turning a fictional chapter into a nerd power fantasy of implausible political acumen is not effective literary comment.

# ? Apr 6, 2016 16:34

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# ? May 17, 2024 16:30

ymgve: Jan 2, 2004; Offensive Clock

cptn_dr posted:

That was definitely worth the hour or two it took to read. A good fanfic.

You spent just an hour or two? Man, I'm a slow reader then.

# ? Apr 7, 2016 16:34

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > Let's Read: "Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality"

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