Harry Potter And The Methods Of Rationality

O_O Here,take my title. You've earned it.

edited 19th Oct '11 4:26:34 PM by AckSed

Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.

Yeah it's quite an archive binge. And since it's online, there's no easy page indication to show just how freakin long it is.

Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's Play

Word count. (Anywhere a fic is listed (eg on Less Wrong's author page) on fanfiction.net, word count is given. Currently it shows 77chapters/447,882 words )

edited 21st Oct '11 7:27:53 PM by SavageOrange

'Don't beg for anything, do it yourself, or else you won't get anything.'

I think that's longer then the bible...

Is using "Julian Assange is a Hillary butt plug" an acceptable signature quote?

I was gifted my title when I announced I'd read all 84 pages of the introduction thread in Yack Fest. Given you also read this thread,you qualify.

Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.

So, you remember that fic I was working on that was born in this very thread?

I finished it, and I'm publishing it as an e-book. It's $3.00 through paypal. If you don't have a bank account just send me a private message with your email address, but I'd rather you pay if you can.

The mission statement of the play is roughly the same as that of Methods of Rationality or Luminosity. The philosophy in it is of course my own, but I don't disagree on any major points with Eliezer. As with Methods, I've written it to be enjoyable to people who have no direct exposure to Shakespeare's Hamlet and also to Shakespeare aficionados who have never heard of Less Wrong or even of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The play is a rewrite of Hamlet that preserves much of the original style, language, and plot, while injecting references to modern culture, epistemology, and ethics. It's perhaps what Shakespeare would have written, had he been simultaneously trying to appeal to audiences of both his time and our own. The Philosopher's Stone, for example, would be familiar to subjects of either Queen Elizabeth. The play's formatting is modeled after the way most of us encounter written Shakespeare: the spelling is updated and standardized, the stage directions are minimal and mostly of the sort that can be inferred from the dialogue, and the language is Elizabethan English from circa 1599; any anachronism is unintentional, aside from a certain wry punctuation mark and other allusions to future art. The only major change to the structure is the play's length: while unabridged productions of Hamlet can run up to five hours, the more concise Tragedy of Prince Hamlet and the Philosopher's Stone, or, A Will Most Incorrect to Heaven by William Shakespeare clocks in at well under two. Oh, and I changed all the words. There are only a few lines from the original in there.

I'm eager, of course, for feedback. Hope you enjoy!

I have read the excerpt, and it is awesome. I will probably buy it.

Shinigan (Naruto fanfic)

Is badass. Posted a link to it on my facebook. You should probably do some basic self promotion stuff. Send an email to Yudkowsky so he'll put it on the Author's notes. Start a facebook page. Maybe post the excerpt on fanfiction.net if it doesn't violate the To S. Definitely link in the sig on all the forums you attend. Blog about if you've got one. Maybe make a new thread. That sort of thing.

edited 26th Oct '11 12:11:57 AM by Roman

| DA Page | Sketchbook |

Thanks!

I was planning on emailing Yudkowsky, but according to my paypal logs he managed to buy the book *before* I'd linked to it from anywhere. Time-turner? Google Alert?

He's very good at keeping track of all things HP:Mo R, fan art, fan fiction, fan fiction about fan art, inspired works. I don't know how he does it, but he's very smart and cares about this a lot.

Sex, Drugs, and Rationality

I'll admit that, as someone who performs Shakespeare, I didn't really enjoy reading through the excerpt. The scansion was wrong for verse. I suppose that it might work as an independent work, but putting it through the lens of Shakespeare, which was meant to be performed, dulls it.

"Status as of Oct 29: about 10,000 words into Ch. 78, which is shaping up to be longish, and I'll probably also want Ch. 79 done too before the next update. Sorry for the slow progress, I've been awfully RL-busy lately."

Damn son.

Is using "Julian Assange is a Hillary butt plug" an acceptable signature quote?

Woo,progress!

Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.

It gets more versical when you get to the proper soliloquies. Someone else recently commented that in the play as a whole about one in every 20 lines fails to scan. I figured I had some wiggle room since this is specifically based on Hamlet, which by Shakespeare standards has a lot of prose and a lot of awkward rhythm. Still, mea culpa.

We must fill this gap in chapters with rampant speculation! The last confrontation made me worry that we won't actually get to see Harry vs. Dumbledore, despite that whole Oath of Vengeance thing. My favorite theory is still that Narcissa faked her own death to escape Lucius, and Dumbledore took the credit.

While I doubt that Dumbledore is specifically responsible for Narcissa's murder, he and Harry are most definitely going to go head to head at some point.

I really hope Harry is going to get to some serious plotting now. We've had enough games and experiments and set-up, he needs to start growing his conspiracy and really put is head to taking down Azkaban. I can see that as being the series focus for a while.

Snape will kill Dumbledore. Dumbledore _ruined_ _Snape's_ _life._

He did it with the best intentions, of course. First he soured Lily against Snape, then he used Snape to kill Lily and James Potter, then he kept Snape in the dark about his own pitiful nature, all for the greater good.

I think it's also been established that Mo R!Snape is one of the most powerful wizards in Hogwarts, so if anyone can do in Dumbledore, he's got a bit of a better chance. There is the matter of the Elder Wand, but that's a problem for anyone.

edited 30th Oct '11 9:16:13 PM by loserthree

Now that is bloody brilliant. A perfectly smashed mirror of canon. I hope it won't happen for a while, though.

On an entirely different note, I think that with Harry's new-found interest in the Ministry, he may well discover the existence of the Department of Mysteries. That would be something he'd find extraordinarily interesting.

edited 30th Oct '11 10:03:01 PM by DarthHobbes

Ug, it's so hard to keep track of this series. So Narcissa was killed by Dumbledore in Mo R?

Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's Play

Well, that's what Draco said Lucius said Dumbledore said.

Shinigan (Naruto fanfic)

While rereading "Pretending to be Wise" I happened upon this quote from when harry and Quirrell are discussing the Resurrection Stone:

"Precisely," said Professor Quirrell, "though I wouldn't say no to a chance to try it." There was a dry, thin smile on his lips; and something colder, more distant, in his eyes.

While this is by no means evidence of anything, it gave me the thought that perhaps Quirrell is not Voldemort, but Grindelwald. Yes, Less Wrong has referred to him as Voldemort, but I find it to actually be more probable that he did this on purpose to mislead us. Quirrell would still be revealed as a previously-known character, but not The Dark Lord. If not Grindelwald, then perhaps Salazar Slytherin or Merlin himself. Thoughts?

edited 3rd Nov '11 8:45:00 PM by DarthHobbes

Arguing with Word of God is pointless.

A case of true love has the same redeeming power as a case of genuine curiosity: they are the same.

^^Like you,I have difficulty believing that Voldemort could be nice. Once a monster,always a monster,right? However,your theory that Quirrel's Grindenwald is improbable. Dumbledore may not be the most reliable of sources,but if he says that Grindenwald is securely imprisoned and still alive,what motivation does he have to lie to Harry?

Further,who's to say this story's Voldemort was the same as Rowling's? The cruelty is still there,but the background could be different; I think a lot of people,myself included,are expecting Quirrelmort to turn around and give Harry (and us) an explanation of how/when he acquired his current worldview and scientific knowledge. (My money's on the merger with Quirrel.) Or for him to reveal Professor Quirrel was all just an act.

Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.

You can't fake knowledge.

Also, this Voldie is like Peter Sellers, he's had his personality surgicallymagically removed. At least that's what he told Harry.

edited 4th Nov '11 6:59:02 AM by PacificState

A case of true love has the same redeeming power as a case of genuine curiosity: they are the same.

Welll,let's say he was as much of a prodigy as Harry and then decided to take over the world in the manner he did. Assimilating Quirrel might just have been a top-up for him.

Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.

Alternately he chose to focus his stats buffing on Intelligence rather than Magical Power, and got around having to use massive magical firepower by understanding Magic on an extremely deep level.

A case of true love has the same redeeming power as a case of genuine curiosity: they are the same.