History Main / RationalFiction

->''But when you look at what Sherlock Holmes does - you can't go out and do it at home. Sherlock Holmes is not really operating by any sort of reproducible method. He is operating by magically finding the right clues and carrying out magically correct complicated chains of deduction. Maybe it's just me, but it seems to me that reading Sherlock Holmes does not inspire you to go and do likewise. Holmes is a mutant superhero. And even if you did try to imitate him, it would never work in real life.''
-> -- [[Creator/EliezerYudkowsky Eliezer Yudkowsky]], on [[http://lesswrong.com/lw/3m/rationalist_fiction/ Rationalist Fiction]].

In the most core sense, RationalFiction is about stories in which allegedly brilliant reasoning by the characters is conferred not by mutation or native brilliance alone, but follows from explicit rules of thought meant to constitute normative rationality, which readers are intended to pick up from the story and use in real life.

The grandparent of all RationalFiction is the ''Null-A'' series by Creator/AEVanVogt, based on the (in hindsight) mostly wrong work of Alfred Korzybski's General Semantics. Nonetheless, Korzybski was the originator of the phrase "The map is not the territory" and the idea that the word "dog" is an abstraction which can prevent us from seeing how Dog1 is not Dog2. And while most of the Null-A characters' abilities, like teleportation or lightning reflexes, are not things readers can use, the way that Gilbert Gosseyn reasons about [[spoiler:his own apparent death]] explicitly uses some of Korzybski's principles.

As a corollary of this principle, the intelligence of a character in RationalFiction must never be an InformedAbility. We must see them being smart, not be told that they are smart. They must think of brilliant things to do which we ourselves could have realized are possible. As in a FairPlayWhodunnit, the character must make deductions that we ourselves could realistically have made. Only by solving puzzles which are, from the readers' perspective, at least slightly fair, can the character's good sense be convincingly exhibited. (Note that the ability to exhibit smart ''options'' and ''strategies'' means that this is not the same principle as a FairPlayWhodunnit; and fair-play insights may happen throughout the novel, not just in ways relevant to a mystery plot.)

Generally rational fiction means that the plot and characters aren't [[PlotDevice propelled forward]] by [[PoorCommunicationKills a lack of communication]] or by [[IdiotPlot idiocy]], and usually that characters get by using their [[IntelligenceTropes wits]] more than their [[MoreDakka brawn]]. [[ForTheEvulz No one is just evil for the hell of it]], conflicts are driven primarily by [[GreyAndGrayMorality differences in values]] and the villains ([[RousseauWasRight to the extent there even are villains]]) have [[WellIntentionedExtremist a real and honest point to their actions]]. Some of that is synonymous with good writing/plotting, but part of the point is that intellect and values are drawn to the forefront, as there are certainly many (good) works of fiction that adhere to those standards but keep much of it in the background.

Thus the secondary characteristics of RationalFiction:
* Nobody important is stupid. None of the main heroes or main villains hold the IdiotBall. Rational protagonists often face rational (or at least very intelligent) opposition to maintain the story's power balance.
* The characters solve problems through insightful or unexpected applications of their resources (as opposed to pulling out yet more intense magical powers).
* The story is like a puzzle; [[FairPlayWhoDunnit readers can reach the same solution as the characters]] by using the information provided earlier in the story.
* The rules of the fictional world are [[MagicAIsMagicA consistent]] and [[MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness sane]].

Bonus points:
* Factions are defined and driven into conflict by their beliefs and values, not just by being [[LightIsNotGood "good"]] or [[DarkIsNotEvil "evil"]].
* The main character uses (or tries to use) [[TheScientificMethod rationalist and scientific methods]] to [[SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic demystify seemingly mysterious phenomena]].

Originally, there were only a few hard science fiction authors who wrote this way. Then, one fateful day, HarryPotterAndTheMethodsOfRationality was posted to the internet. It acquired a fandom.

That fandom developed a nascent tradition of writing their own "rational fics": often explicitly fanfiction by members of the LessWrong community, designed to teach "rationality techniques" beloved by that author. [[InternetBackdraft Be warned.]] Still, rational fiction is not always necessarily associated with LessWrong or even fanfiction at all. Owing to the origins of the modern re-emergence, it is also often the case that in modern RationalFiction:
* The story hints at or embraces [[{{Transhuman}} transhumanist]] ideals: [[LivingForeverIsAwesome living forever]], [[{{Utopia}} utopias]] or [[{{Dystopia}} dystopias]] will often be a subject of discussion.
* The story deals with the dangers and potential of powerful new technology. It doesn't have to be [[AIIsACrapshoot always a crapshoot]], just potentially dangerous if not handled carefully by well-trained users.
* The story is a [[FanFiction fanfiction]] FixFic or {{Deconstruction}} in which the characters take advantage of opportunities previously overlooked (aka [[{{Munchkin}} "Munchkinism"]]), and any rules of magic are further hardened or revealed to have underlying principles.

If you want to get a general picture of why this thing is awesome, but not sure whether you are ready to read something big, you can take look at [[http://hpmor.com/chapter/64 Lord of Rationality]], a snippet of a rational take on TheLordOfTheRings.
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!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Core rationalist fictions]]
The oldest or best-written stories, which helped to define the genre.
* The Literature/NullA novels "The World Of Null-A" and "The Players Of Null-A" by Creater/AEVanVogt. Rationality principles invoked: "The map is not the territory", "Dog1 is not Dog2", stopping and thinking when something emotional happens (the "cortico-thalamic pause", as they called it).
* "David's Sling" and "Earthweb" by Creator/MarcStiegler. Rationality principles invoked: Reasoned formal discussion and quantitative evaluation (in "David's Sling"), prediction markets (in "Earthweb").
* Fanfic/HarryPotterAndTheMethodsOfRationality by Creator/EliezerYudkowsky. Rationality principles invoked: Way too many to count - each chapter is titled after a different principle.
* {{Fanfic/Luminosity}} by {{Creator/Alicorn}}. Rationality principles invoked: Self-awareness, Munchkinism of opportunities.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Other rational fics]]
* ThreeWorldsCollide, also by Creator/EliezerYudkowsky.
* My Little Pony: FriendshipIsOptimal, by Iceman: mostly does not explicitly teach rationality techniques, but points out exactly why they say AIIsACrapshoot.
--> "There seem to be a lot of bronies on LessWrong. This is a trap to sniff them out." -- [[http://www.fimfiction.net/index.php?view=group&group=1418 LessWrong FimFiction Group]]
* [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9794740/1/Pokemon-The-Origin-of-Species Pokemon: the Origin of Species]]: rationalfic of {{Pokemon}} Red+Blue
* [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9380249/1/Rationalising-Death Rationalising Death]]: DeathNote fanfiction trying to show what more realistic standards of reasoning would allow the main characters to achieve.
* [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9658524/1/Branches-on-the-Tree-of-Time on the Tree of Time]]: A Terminator fanfic which demonstrates the real power of time travel.
* [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9915682/1/The-Last-Christmas The Last Christmas]]: rational![[SantaClaus SantaClaus]] meets [[BlueAndOrangeMorality neutral!genies]]
* Literature/TheCambistAndLordIron: a fairy-tale of economics
* [[http://slatestarcodex.com/2013/05/27/transhumanist-fables/ Transhumanist Fables]]
* [[http://squid314.livejournal.com/324957.html The Last Temptation of Christ]], [[http://squid314.livejournal.com/336195.html The Girl Who Poked God with a Stick]], and [[http://squid314.livejournal.com/293753.html The Story of Emily and Control]]
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-77cUxba-aA Twisted]]: rational!Aladdin ... the musical
* PartingWords and TheGreatAlicornHunt: in-universe rational!MLPFIM fanfics
* [[http://makefoil.com/ The Tragedy of Prince Hamlet and the Philosopher's Stone, or, A Will Most Incorrect to Heaven]]: Featuring Hamlet with utilitarist ethics.
* [[https://twitter.com/HardSciFiMovies HardSciFiMovies]] on Twitter - deconstructing famous plots in 140 characters
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Sorta rational fics]]
Stories that have some of the above properties, but not all, especially if they don't explicitly try to teach rationality.
* Squid314 on LiveJournal has several; two entertaining ones are [[http://squid314.livejournal.com/284970.html Soul Cancer]] and [[http://squid314.livejournal.com/336195.html The Girl Who Poked God With A Stick]]
* {{Accelerando}}, by Charles Stross: one of the first real novels to explore LessWrong's much-beloved [[TheSingularity Singularity]] tropes.
* Literature/FineStructure
* Literature/{{Worm}}
* [[http://grooveshark.com/#!/s/The+Ballad+Of+Smallpox+Gone/4f7lHc?src=5 The Ballad of Smallpox Gone]]: not fiction, ''way awesomer'' for being about RealLife, in which [[HumansAreSpecial mankind]] has ''[[CrowningMomentOfAwesome eradicated]]'' a disease that used to cause the equivalents of small genocides on a frequent basis.
* Literature/{{Ra}}
* [[http://www.rifters.com/real/Blindsight.htm Blindsight]] by Peter Watts
* Literature/WizBiz by Rick Cook
* Literature/CityOfAngles
[[/folder]]

Generally RationalFiction means that the plot and characters aren't [[PlotDevice propelled forward]] by [[PoorCommunicationKills a lack of communication]] or by [[IdiotPlot idiocy]], and usually that characters get by using their [[IntelligenceTropes wits]] more than their [[MoreDakka brawn]]. [[ForTheEvulz No one is just evil for the hell of it]], conflicts are driven primarily by [[GreyAndGrayMorality differences in values]] and the villains ([[RousseauWasRight to the extent there even are villains]]) have [[WellIntentionedExtremist a real and honest point to their actions]]. Some of that is synonymous with good writing/plotting, but part of the point is that intellect and values are drawn to the forefront, as there are certainly many (good) works of fiction that adhere to those standards but keep much of it in the background.

Thus the secondary characteristics of a RationalFiction: