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# Feeling Moral
Suppose that a disease, or a monster, or a war, or something, is killing people. And suppose you only have enough resources to implement one of the following two options:
1. Save 400 lives, with certainty.
2. Save 500 lives, with 90% probability; save no lives, 10% probability.
Most peopl... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/Nx2WxEuPSvNBGuYpo/feeling-moral |
# Half-assing it with everything you've got
I hang out around a lot of [effective altruists](http://www.effectivealtruism.org/). Many of them are motivated primarily by something like guilt (for having great resource and opportunity while others suffer) or shame (for not helping enough). Hell, many of my non-EA friend... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/ijYCZSQvgNeaQqcHN/half-assing-it-with-everything-you-ve-got |
# [LINK] Terry Pratchett is dead
[BBC article](http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-31858156)
I'm sure I'm not the only one who greatly admired him. The theme of his stories was progress; they were set in a fantasy world, it's true, but one that was frequently a direct analogy to our own past, and where the gol... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/NqbSPsAHMTn7BTpFF/link-terry-pratchett-is-dead |
# Rationality: From AI to Zombies
[](https://intelligence.org/rationality-ai-zombies/)
Eliezer Yudkowsky's original Sequences have been edited, reordered, and converted into an ebook!
_Rationality: From AI to Zombies_ is now ava... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/xmoYza9vgcRvWD5PA/rationality-from-ai-to-zombies |
# A map of LWers - find members of the community living near you.
There seems to be a lot of enthusiasm around LessWrong meetups, so I thought something like this might be interesting too. There is no need to register - just add your marker and keep an eye out for someone living near you.
Here's the link: https://www... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/neXgtqxS2KDRwDszG/a-map-of-lwers-find-members-of-the-community-living-near-you |
# Chapter 9: Title Redacted, Part 1
All your base are belong to J. K. Rowling.
* * *
1,000 REVIEWS IN 26 DAYS WOOHOO AWESOME POWA! 30 DAYS 1,189 REVIEWS COMBO IS CONTINUING! YEAH! YOU PEOPLE ARE THE BEST! THIS IS SPARTAAAAA!
Ahem.
The third-generation quarks were also called "truth" and "beauty" before "top" and "... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/L86XPKmbpE8YCGruq/chapter-9-title-redacted-part-1 |
# Calibration Test with database of 150,000+ questions
Hi all,
I put this calibration test together this morning. It pulls from a trivia API of over 150,000 questions so you should be able to take this many, many times before you start seeing repeats.
http://www.2pih.com/caltest.php
A few notes:
1\. The questions... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/WLun5oQGXu3aLN7oJ/calibration-test-with-database-of-150-000-questions |
# Chapter 70: Self Actualization, Pt 5
Even if you had been the Deputy Headmistress for three decades, and a Transfiguration Professor before that, it was rare that you saw Albus Dumbledore caught completely flatfooted.
"...Susan Bones, Lavender Brown, and Daphne Greengrass," Minerva finished. "I should also note, Al... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/B5Qar5K2YzLuvHwi4/chapter-70-self-actualization-pt-5 |
# Chapter 89: Time Pressure, Pt 2
Cool blue fires clung to the floor in small masses, surrounding a blazing pool that seemed to burn with a deadlier, hotter blue.
In one narrow circle the marble tiles were scorched and shattered by some explosive spell that only the most prodigious of first-year witches could have ca... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/ZfYzvfavHuiwt8ZPb/chapter-89-time-pressure-pt-2 |
# Chapter 106: The Truth, Pt 3
After a single step into Dumbledore's forbidden chamber, Harry shrieked and jumped back and collided with Professor Snape, sending the two of them down in a heap.
Professor Snape picked himself up and resumed standing in front of the door. His head tracked to look at Harry. "I am guardi... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/4aDzgxNLpi5PptNrJ/chapter-106-the-truth-pt-3 |
# Chapter 59: TSPE, Curiosity, Pt 9
Broomsticks had been invented during what a Muggle would have called the Dark Ages, supposedly by a legendary witch named Celestria Relevo, allegedly the great-great-granddaughter of Merlin.
Celestria Relevo, or whichever person or group had really invented those enchantments, hadn... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/udB9GNwsrs72YAbsh/chapter-59-tspe-curiosity-pt-9 |
# Chapter 52: The Stanford Prison Experiment, Pt 2
The adrenaline was already flowing in Harry's veins, his heart already hammering in his chest, there in that darkened and bankrupt store. Professor Quirrell had finished explaining, and in one hand, Harry held a tiny wooden twig that would be the key. This was it, thi... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/5MjuC3tuamZBSYZrr/chapter-52-the-stanford-prison-experiment-pt-2 |
# Chapter 78: Taboo Tradeoffs Prelude: Cheating
It was Saturday, on the 4th of April, in the year 1992.
Mr. and Mrs. Davis looked rather nervous, as they sat in a certain special section of the Hogwarts Quidditch stands - though today the cushioned benches did not look upon flying broomsticks, but rather viewed a gig... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/4nh5G7Dkc24DFz6Pz/chapter-78-taboo-tradeoffs-prelude-cheating |
# Chapter 3: Comparing Reality To Its Alternatives
If J. K. Rowling asks you about this story, you know nothing.
* * *
_"But then the question is - who?"_
* * *
"Good Lord," said the barman, peering at Harry, "is this - can this be -?"
Harry leaned towards the bar of the Leaky Cauldron as best he could, though it... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/N4y4QjNz7NMD6fLiP/chapter-3-comparing-reality-to-its-alternatives |
# Chapter 30: Working in Group, Pt 1
J. K. Rowling if a man tries to bother you, you can think blue, count two, and look for a red shoe.
* * *
The day was Sunday, November 3rd, and soon the three great powers of their school year, Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy, and Hermione Granger, would begin their struggle for supre... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/jn8256ajXff6KuNPu/chapter-30-working-in-group-pt-1 |
# Chapter 25: Hold Off on Proposing Solutions
To seek out new life, and J. K. Rowling!
Note: Since the science in this story is usually all correct, I include a warning that in Ch. 22-25 Harry overlooks many possibilities, the most important of which is that there are lots of magical genes but they're all on one chro... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/i62ujuGfBDDw5ZnZa/chapter-25-hold-off-on-proposing-solutions |
# Chapter 85: Taboo Tradeoffs, Aftermath 3, Distance
_This chapter received a major, significiant revision on December 16th, 2012. The main revision starts about halfway through - search on the word "trivial" to find it._
* * *
Slow and hard, the long stairway that led to the peak of Ravenclaw. From the inside, the ... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/NLX738bmncXoc94vu/chapter-85-taboo-tradeoffs-aftermath-3-distance-1 |
# Chapter 120: Something to Protect: Draco Malfoy
_A/N: Farewell, Terry Pratchett, 1948-2015. Your characters were an inspiration to me, and now I can see how much they taught me about Level 1 and Level 3 Character Intelligence: that self-awareness often manifests as humor or as genre-savviness; that an inner spark of... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/pQR4B836uDLXLjTC7/chapter-120-something-to-protect-draco-malfoy |
# Chapter 8: Positive Bias
All these worlds are J. K. Rowling's, except Europa. Attempt no fanfics there.
* * *
One alert reviewer asked whether, if Luna is a seer, that means this is going to be an HPDM bottom!Draco mpreg fic. I regret that FFN does not allow me any larger font size in which to say **NO**. It hones... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/i45GMZgheKTheF9nJ/chapter-8-positive-bias |
# Chapter 42: Courage
"_Romantic?_" Hermione said. "They're both _boys!_"
"Wow," Daphne said, sounding a little shocked. "You mean Muggles really _do_ hate that? I thought that was just something the Death Eaters made up."
"No," said an older Slytherin girl Hermione didn't recognize, "it's true, they have to get mar... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/BwAt8C365BzaPBfrk/chapter-42-courage |
# Chapter 71: Self Actualization, Pt 6
"Well," Daphne whispered, keeping her voice as low as she could, "at least now I don't feel like the only sane person in Hogwarts any more."
"Because now you've got the rest of us as friends?" whispered Lavender Brown, who was tiptoeing along at her left side.
"I don't think th... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/5jSmYbpx2ToqYBjXS/chapter-71-self-actualization-pt-6 |
# Chapter 38: The Cardinal Sin
Bright the sun, bright the air, bright the students and bright their parents, clean the paved ground of Platform 9.75, the winter Sun hanging low in the sky at 9:45AM in the morning on January 5th, 1992. Some of the younger students wore scarves and mittens, but most simply wore their ro... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/nfEoTb8J8886irxdr/chapter-38-the-cardinal-sin |
# Chapter 21: Rationalization
Rowling is whoever does Rowling's job.
* * *
Hermione Granger had worried she was turning Bad.
The difference between Good and Bad was usually easy to grasp, she'd never understood why other people had so much trouble. At Hogwarts, "Good" was Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/fdiYakAc5N4z4N4Nq/chapter-21-rationalization |
# Chapter 107: The Truth, Pt 4
The spiraling leaves of the gigantic dieffenbachia felt like forest loam beneath Harry's shoes, not as unyielding as concrete, but supporting his weight. Harry kept a wary eye on the tendrils, but they remained passive.
When Harry reached the bottom of the leafy spiral staircase, the te... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/CQaxyAzYfbjeCPY7m/chapter-107-the-truth-pt-4 |
# Chapter 35: Coordination Problems, Pt 3
They had gone to the Defense Professor's office, and Professor Quirrell had sealed the door before he leaned back in his chair and spoke.
The Defense Professor's voice was very calm, and that unnerved Harry a good deal more than if Professor Quirrell had been shouting.
"I am... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/AMZMAkoTy8DE38ek6/chapter-35-coordination-problems-pt-3 |
# Chapter 79: Taboo Tradeoffs, Pt 1
_"Hermione Granger," Auror Komodo said in a toneless voice, "you are under arrest for the attempted murder of Draco Malfoy."_
The words dropped into Harry's consciousness and shattered his thoughts into a hundred shards of incredulity, the shock of adrenaline running into so much c... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/mJPBFatbdurN5x58x/chapter-79-taboo-tradeoffs-pt-1 |
# Chapter 53: The Stanford Prison Experiment, Pt 3
The corpse of a woman opened her eyes, and the dull sunken orbs gazed out at nothing.
"Mad," Bellatrix muttered in a cracked voice, "It seems that little Bella is going mad..."
Professor Quirrell had instructed Harry, calmly and precisely, how he was to act in Bella... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/83brDQuCpdvKqPRfu/chapter-53-the-stanford-prison-experiment-pt-3 |
# Chapter 92: Roles, Pt 3
There was nothing left to do.
There was nothing left to plan.
There was nothing left to think.
Into that emptiness rose the new worst memory -
The Boy-Who-Lived-Unlike-His-Best-Friend trudged the long, echoing corridors toward the Great Hall. With all his energies of thought exhausted, hi... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/SQqHrCFwHQGgroegh/chapter-92-roles-pt-3 |
# Chapter 111: Failure, Pt 1
The Dark Lord was laughing.
From the empty air came the voice of the Defense Professor laughing wildly, so high and terrible his laughter; it was Voldemort's laughter now, the Dark Lord's laughter beyond all hiding or restraint.
Harry's mind was disarrayed. His eyes kept staring at where... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/dNXNL5v7ZSgiWuSaW/chapter-111-failure-pt-1 |
# Chapter 60: The Stanford Prison Experiment, Pt 10
"Wake."
Harry's eyes flew open as he came awake with a choking gasp, a jerking start of his prone body. He couldn't remember any dreams, maybe his brain had been too exhausted to dream, it seemed like he'd only closed his eyes and then heard that word spoken a momen... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/8D8Enneaoa3YjGk4J/chapter-60-the-stanford-prison-experiment-pt-10 |
# Chapter 91: Roles, Pt 2
_A/N: This chapter does not contain a spoiler for any particular Orson Scott Card novel. It's a metaphor._
* * *
Shortly after, there was another knock upon the storeroom door.
"If you actually care about my mental health," the boy said without looking up, "you will go away, leave me alone... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/TcfDRjhzNbqE9LX2m/chapter-91-roles-pt-2 |
# Chapter 121: Something to Protect: Severus Snape
A somber mood pervaded the Headmistress's office. Minerva had returned after dropping off Draco and Narcissa/Nancy at St. Mungo's, where the Lady Malfoy was being examined to see if a decade living as a Muggle had done any damage to her health; and Harry had come up t... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/Qn6W8EK2X5ERkY5qg/chapter-121-something-to-protect-severus-snape |
# Chapter 108: The Truth, Pt 5, Answers and Riddles
The Defense Professor had set up a cauldron, floating it into place with a wave of his wand, another wave starting a fire beneath it. A brief circling of the Defense Professor's finger had set in motion a long-handled spoon, and it had continued stirring the cauldron... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/DAqsG9NxaSyCoN6pJ/chapter-108-the-truth-pt-5-answers-and-riddles |
# Chapter 12: Impulse Control
ph'nglui mglw'nafh J. K. Rowling wgah'nagl fhtagn
* * *
_"Wonder what's wrong with_ him_."_
* * *
"Turpin, Lisa!"
Whisper whisper whisper harry potter whisper whisper slytherin whisper whisper no seriously what the hell whisper whisper
"RAVENCLAW!"
Harry joined in the applause gree... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/gBkD8LJNR4ziizMLA/chapter-12-impulse-control |
# Chapter 28: Reductionism
Whatever can go Rowling will go Rowling.
This should _again_ go _without saying,_ but views expressed by Severus Snape are not necessarily those of the author.
* * *
"Okay," Harry said, swallowing. "Okay, Hermione, it's enough, you can stop."
The white sugar pill in front of Hermione sti... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/BJ2WcmG2dMvkh6nz5/chapter-28-reductionism |
# Chapter 80: Taboo Tradeoffs, Pt 2, The Horns Effect
The Most Ancient Hall of the Wizengamot is cool and dark, with concentric half-circles of stone rising up from the lowest center, and simple wooden benches set down upon those elevated half-circles. There is no source of light, but the chamber is well-lit, without ... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/KiXSXTbbaYWLTTL5D/chapter-80-taboo-tradeoffs-pt-2-the-horns-effect |
# Chapter 1: A Day of Very Low Probability
Disclaimer: J. K. Rowling owns Harry Potter, and no one owns the methods of rationality.
This fic is widely considered to have really hit its stride starting at around Chapter 5. If you still don't like it after Chapter 10, give up.
This is _not_ a strict single-point-of-de... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/vNHf7dx5QZA4SLSZb/chapter-1-a-day-of-very-low-probability |
# Chapter 72: SA, Plausible Deniability, Pt 7
The winter Sun had well set by the time dinner ended, and so it was amid the peaceful light of stars twinkling down from the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall that Hermione left for the Ravenclaw Tower alongside her study partner Harry Potter, who lately seemed to have a... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/eRtfnxAhpckqF8Hqy/chapter-72-sa-plausible-deniability-pt-7 |
# Chapter 23: Belief in Belief
Everybody wants a rock to wind a piece of string around J. K. Rowling.
* * *
"And then Janet was a Squib," said the portrait of a short young woman with a gold-trimmed hat.
Draco wrote it down. That was only twenty-eight but it was time to go back and meet Harry.
He'd needed to ask o... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/iTzKdxPBJWnhMdMPK/chapter-23-belief-in-belief |
# Chapter 37: Interlude: Crossing the Boundary
It was almost midnight.
Staying up late was simple enough for Harry. He just hadn't used the Time-Turner. Harry followed a tradition of timing his sleep cycle to make sure he was awake for when Christmas Eve turned into Christmas Day; because while he'd never been young ... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/BMbaCAJH2u8mLE2Kg/chapter-37-interlude-crossing-the-boundary |
# Chapter 54: The Stanford Prison Experiment, Pt 4
A faint green spark moved forward to set the pace, and behind it followed a brilliant silver figure, all other entities invisible. They had traversed five legs of corridor, turned right five times and gone up five flights of stairs; and when Bellatrix had finished her... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/tk3ZGreB6nRiwrJ5C/chapter-54-the-stanford-prison-experiment-pt-4 |
# Chapter 64: Omake Files 4, Alternate Parallels
If you're five hours past your bedtime and still reading this, may I suggest getting some sleep? The fic will still be here tomorrow... unless, you know, something _bad_ happens to it and the next morning there's just a 404 at this address and you're left with nothing b... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/5GCoBhagXMDG6XYTj/chapter-64-omake-files-4-alternate-parallels |
# Chapter 109: Reflections
_Even the greatest artifact can be defeated by a counter-artifact that is lesser, but specialized._
That was what the Defense Professor had told Harry, after dropping the True Cloak of Invisibility to pool in fuliginous folds near Harry's shoes.
_The Mirror of Perfect Reflection has power ... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/YctxLuTSWedY3MXqq/chapter-109-reflections |
# Chapter 4: The Efficient Market Hypothesis
Disclaimer: J. K. Rowling is watching you from where she waits, eternally in the void between worlds.
A/N: As others have noted, the novels seem inconsistent in the apparent purchasing power of a Galleon; I'm picking a consistent value and sticking with it. Five pounds ste... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/Afwaj6sGfxcQZrmYF/chapter-4-the-efficient-market-hypothesis |
# Chapter 122: Something to Protect: Hermione Granger
And it was evening and it was morning, the last day. June 15th, 1992.
The beginning light of morning, the pre-dawn before sunrise, was barely brightening the sky. To the east of Hogwarts, where the Sun would rise, that faintest tinge of grey made barely visible th... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/wuiZQrqn2fZCZMDBC/chapter-122-something-to-protect-hermione-granger |
# Chapter 61: TSPE, Secrecy and Openness, Pt 11
Through green flame they whirled, through the Floo network they spun, Minerva's heart racing with a pounding horror that she hadn't felt in ten years and three months, the corridors between space coughed and spit them out into the lobby of Gringotts (the safest Floo rece... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/worfnZsavhZeFsBzZ/chapter-61-tspe-secrecy-and-openness-pt-11 |
# Chapter 93: Roles, Pt 4
Harry had walked into the Great Hall, looked around only once, grabbed enough calories to sustain himself, walked out, put on his Cloak again and found a small random corner in which to eat. Seeing the students at their tables -
_Feeling revulsion when you look at other humans is not a good ... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/35CSC29qNo7iqXhqF/chapter-93-roles-pt-4 |
# Chapter 16: Lateral Thinking
The enemy's gate is Rowling.
* * *
_I'm not a psychopath, I'm just very creative._
* * *
As soon as he walked into the Defence classroom on Wednesday, Harry knew that _this_ subject was going to be _different_.
It was, for a start, the largest classroom he had yet seen at Hogwarts, ... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/iW7zmuBaskKcaErGC/chapter-16-lateral-thinking |
# Chapter 33: Coordination Problems, Pt 1
I just recite to myself, over and over, until I can choose sleep: It all adds up to J. K. Rowling.
The version of decision theory used in this chapter is _not_ the academically dominant one. It's based on something called "timeless decision theory" that's under development by... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/EQ9AKiFDy3wXnhG6L/chapter-33-coordination-problems-pt-1 |
# Chapter 48: Utilitarian Priorities
It was Saturday, the first morning of February, and at the Ravenclaw table, a boy bearing a breakfast plate heaped high with vegetables was nervously inspecting his servings for the slightest trace of meat.
It _might_ have been an overreaction. After he'd gotten over the raw shock... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/gBPGu9H9Hhhf7yWDA/chapter-48-utilitarian-priorities |
# Chapter 110: Reflections, Pt 2
The grimness on Albus Dumbledore's face lasted only an instant before giving way to bewilderment. "Quirinus? What -"
And then there was a pause.
"Well," said Albus Dumbledore. "I do feel stupid."
"I should hope so," Professor Quirrell said easily; if he had been at all shocked himse... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/7Ek2ig6XHJp8JRaG2/chapter-110-reflections-pt-2 |
# Chapter 31: Working in Groups, Pt 2
_Aftermaths:_
* * *
Harry paced backward and forward in his general's office, which made a wonderful room for pacing, it didn't have any other uses as far as he could tell.
_How?_
_How?_
Hermione shouldn't have won that battle! Not on her first try, not when she wasn't at all... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/tDxLr36WrH2HHqJjr/chapter-31-working-in-groups-pt-2 |
# Chapter 55: The Stanford Prison Experiment, Pt 5
In a scarred and ruined corridor, lit by dim gas lights, a boy slowly crept forward, one hand stretched out, toward the unmoving snake that was the body of his teacher.
Harry was only a meter away from the snake's body when he first felt it, tickling at the edge of h... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/SmfQ6kYDQXJMMDBwg/chapter-55-the-stanford-prison-experiment-pt-5 |
# Chapter 73: SA, The Sacred and the Mundane, Pt 8
_The red jet of fire took Hannah full in the face, flipping her end-over-heels and smacking her head straight into the stone wall, where her pale face seemed to linger for an instant, framed by flying strands of brown-golden hair, before she collapsed to the ground in... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/PfabLHZxDuvAouqh4/chapter-73-sa-the-sacred-and-the-mundane-pt-8 |
# Chapter 65: Contagious Lies
Hermione Granger had read somewhere once, that one of the keys to staying thin was to pay attention to the food you ate, to notice yourself eating it, so that you were satisfied with the meal. This morning she'd made herself toast, and put butter on the toast, and cinnamon on the butter, ... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/qWC36EKyHQmiziKXJ/chapter-65-contagious-lies |
# Chapter 115: Shut Up and Do The Impossible, Pt 2
_This is a double post. If you have not read Ch. 114, go back and read it now._
* * *
Something like a fugue state had come over Harry's mind. The absolute state had partially worn off him, partially stayed with him. Elements of his mind were numb, maybe deliberatel... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/CYnPzFga2nQk9dowy/chapter-115-shut-up-and-do-the-impossible-pt-2 |
# Chapter 100: Precautionary Measures, Pt 1
_May 13th, 1992._
Argus Filch's face appeared twisted in the light of the oil lamp he held, shadows dancing over his face. Behind them the doors of Hogwarts quickly receded, and the dark grounds moved closer. The track they now walked was muddy and indistinct.
The trees, b... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/Xx38DAuRfY6ftWPtF/chapter-100-precautionary-measures-pt-1 |
# Chapter 62: The Stanford Prison Experiment, Final
Minerva gazed up at the clock, the golden hands and silver numerals, the jerking motion. Muggles had invented that, and until they had, wizards had not bothered keeping time. Bells, timed by a sanded hourglass, had served Hogwarts for its classes when it was built. I... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/EswXBc4itYycfpbK4/chapter-62-the-stanford-prison-experiment-final |
# Chapter 14: The Unknown and the Unknowable
Melenkurion abatha! Duroc minas mill J. K. Rowling!
* * *
_There were mysterious questions, but a mysterious answer was a contradiction in terms._
* * *
"Come in," said Professor McGonagall's muffled voice.
Harry did so.
The office of the Deputy Headmistress was clean... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/MNENGi5ZEm7gMSkWq/chapter-14-the-unknown-and-the-unknowable |
# Chapter 26: Noticing Confusion
Yakka foob mog. Grug pubbawup zink wattoom gazork. Chumble spuzz J. K. Rowling.
* * *
Professor Quirrell's office hours consisted of 11:40 to 11:55 AM on Thursday. That was for all of his students in all years. It cost a Quirrell point just to knock on the door, and if he didn't thin... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/JtLGZMEysSbXLHJQj/chapter-26-noticing-confusion |
# Chapter 94: Roles, Pt 5
_The first meeting:_
At 6:07am on April 17th, 1992 the Sun was just rising above the horizon as seen from the castle Hogwarts, filtering in through drawn curtains in the Ravenclaw first-year boys' dorm to provide a gentle light, red-orange for dawn and little-changed by the white fabric cove... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/kZjG9CAXdfxj6RnCF/chapter-94-roles-pt-5 |
# Chapter 49: Prior Information
A boy waits at a small clearing at the edge of the non-forbidden forest, beside a dirt trail that runs back to the gates of Hogwarts in one direction, and off into the distance in another. There is a carriage nearby, and the boy is standing well away from it, looking at it, his eyes sel... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/g78TRgLQuqY2etN7q/chapter-49-prior-information |
# Chapter 41: Frontal Override
The biting January wind howled around the vast, blank stone walls that demarcated the material bounds of the castle Hogwarts, whispering and whistling in odd pitches as it blew past closed windows and stone turrets. The most recent snow had mostly blown away, but occasional patches of me... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/y7ErBMkB9m6rrWSTF/chapter-41-frontal-override |
# Chapter 74: SA, Escalation of Conflicts, Pt 9
Harry walked forward a step, then another step, until a sense of unease began to pervade him, a disquiet in his nerves.
He said nothing, lifted no hand; the pervading sense of unease would say it for him.
From behind the closed door of the office came a whisper, carryi... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/vrNyJv7PtieKKJ5xf/chapter-74-sa-escalation-of-conflicts-pt-9 |
# Chapter 56: TSPE, Constrained Optimization
Silent, it was thankfully silent, the metal door on the next level down. Either there wasn't someone behind there, or they were hurting quietly, maybe they were screaming but their voice had given out already, or they were just muttering quietly to themselves in the dark...... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/64KCZYgBnCTFv3Luh/chapter-56-tspe-constrained-optimization |
# Chapter 5: The Fundamental Attribution Error
J. K. Rowling is staring at you. Can you feel her eyes on you? She's reading your mind using her Rowling Rays.
* * *
_"It would've required a _supernatural intervention_ for him to have _your_ morality given _his_ environment."_
* * *
The Moke Shop was a quaint little... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/4HZJPGf2GzC6BSHa6/chapter-5-the-fundamental-attribution-error |
# Chapter 66: Self Actualization, Pt 1
_Hessitation iss alwayss eassy, rarely usseful._
So the Defense Professor had told him; and while you could quibble about the details of the proverb, Harry understood the weaknesses of Ravenclaws well enough to know that you had to try _answering_ your own quibbles. Did some pla... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/iL83fz5CQ7zJJoqN2/chapter-66-self-actualization-pt-1 |
# Chapter 36: Status Differentials
Wrenching disorientation, that was how it felt to walk out of Platform Nine and Three-Quarters into the rest of Earth, the world that Harry had once thought was the only real world. People dressed in casual shirts and pants, instead of the more dignified robes of wizards and witches.... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/y5Ea8ZejmsgBLWeDp/chapter-36-status-differentials |
# Chapter 43: Humanism, Pt 1
The gentle sun of January shone on the cold fields outside Hogwarts.
For some of the students it was a study hour, and others had been let out of class. The first-years who'd signed up for it were practicing a certain spell, a spell that was most advantageously learned outdoors, beneath t... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/aat8P63mjxqGRtmak/chapter-43-humanism-pt-1 |
# Chapter 18: Dominance Hierarchies
Any sufficiently advanced J. K. Rowling is indistinguishable from magic.
* * *
_"That does sound like the sort of thing I would do, doesn't it?"_
* * *
It was breakfast time on Friday morning. Harry took another huge bite out of his toast and then tried to remind his brain that ... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/n2wSWq4io7fz6sCzb/chapter-18-dominance-hierarchies |
# Chapter 101: Precautionary Measures, Pt 2
Harry stood, panting, in the midst of a brief wasted circle amid the forest, more destruction than a first-year should have been able to reach, by himself. The Severing Charm wouldn't bring down a tree, so he'd started partially Transfiguring cross-sections through the wood.... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/cYmdmkLKsZtrCjLBA/chapter-101-precautionary-measures-pt-2 |
# Chapter 90: Roles, Pt 1
A simple _Innervate_ from the Headmaster had awakened Fred Weasley, followed by a preliminary healing Charm for a broken arm and cracked ribs. Harry's voice had distantly told the Headmaster about the Transfigured acid inside the troll's head (Dumbledore had looked down over the side of the t... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/q4qgxzERtTsBcGoQb/chapter-90-roles-pt-1 |
# Chapter 95: Roles, Pt 6
_The third meeting
(10:31am, April 17th 1992)_
Spring had begun, the late-morning air still crisp with the leavings of winter. Daffodils had bloomed amid the sprouting grass of the forest, the gentle yellow petals with their golden hearts dangling limply from their dead, grayed stems, woun... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/ZACmtQPEZfpNBQp6g/chapter-95-roles-pt-6 |
# Chapter 63: TSPE, Aftermaths
_Aftermath, Hermione Granger:_
She was just starting to close up her books and put away her homework in preparation for sleep, Padma and Mandy stacking up their own books across the table from her, when Harry Potter walked into the Ravenclaw common room; and it was only then that she re... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/7GLfcsaZ8EthxWyNY/chapter-63-tspe-aftermaths |
# Chapter 22: The Scientific Method
_Something, somewhere, somewhen, must have happened differently..._
PETUNIA EVANS married Michael Verres, a Professor of Biochemistry at Oxford.
HARRY JAMES POTTER-EVANS-VERRES grew up in a house filled to the brim with books. He once bit a math teacher who didn't know what a loga... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/yYwzAeHhFzimQgBCf/chapter-22-the-scientific-method |
# Chapter 47: Personhood Theory
There comes a point in every plot where the victim starts to suspect; and looks back, and sees a trail of events all pointing in a single direction. And when that point comes, Father had explained, the prospect of the loss may seem so unbearable, and admitting themselves tricked may see... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/wmcbHtSJh5jCsJiPP/chapter-47-personhood-theory |
# Chapter 112: Failure, Pt 2
Even as Harry had raised the gun, he'd _known_ he was making a mistake, his forebrain saw it and tried to stop his hand, but somehow the sick certainty didn't propagate fast enough to prevent his finger from pulling the trigger -
The echo of the shots died away within the graveyard.
A fr... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/5vCigj2k44F9bumWK/chapter-112-failure-pt-2 |
# Chapter 57: TSPE, Constrained Cognition, Pt 7
Harry had _hoped_ that he'd just achieved fusion with his mysterious dark side and would be enabled to draw on all of its benefits with none of its drawbacks, call up the crystal clarity and indomitable will on demand, without needing to go cold or angry.
Once again, he... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/f5hF3hyEoJWfeeduA/chapter-57-tspe-constrained-cognition-pt-7 |
# Chapter 29: Egocentric Bias
Unfortunately, no one can be told who J. K. Rowling is. You have to see her for yourself.
Science disclaimers: Luosha points out that the theory of empathy in Ch. 27 (you use your own brain to simulate others) isn't quite a known scientific fact. The evidence so far points in that direct... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/8d28r3p65psHRoMpy/chapter-29-egocentric-bias |
# Chapter 86: Multiple Hypothesis Testing
(International news headlines of April 7th, 1992:)
_Toronto Magical Tribune:_
ENTIRE BRITISH WIZENGAMOT
REPORTS SEEING 'BOY-WHO-LIVED'
FRIGHTEN A DEMENTOR
EXPERT ON MAGICAL CREATURES:
"NOW YOU'RE JUST LYING"
FRANCE, GERMANY ACCUSE BRITAIN
OF MAKING THE WHOLE THING ... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/Wx2CKWmKnNnXYpWz6/chapter-86-multiple-hypothesis-testing-1 |
# Chapter 75: Self Actualization Final, Responsibility
It was a looping, meandering alley in the midst of Hogwarts, wandering like a stray lock of hair; sometimes crossing itself, it seemed, but you couldn't ever get to the end if you gave into the temptation of apparent shortcuts.
At the end of the tangle, six stude... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/btfnD6vRQqcfMtuoX/chapter-75-self-actualization-final-responsibility |
# Chapter 45: Humanism, Pt 3
Fawkes's song gently trailed off into nothing.
Harry sat up from where he had lain on the winter-blasted grass, Fawkes still perched on his shoulder.
There were intakes of breath from all around him.
"Harry," said Seamus in a wavering voice, "are you all right?"
The peace of the phoeni... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/tvkEXhMsBy69miQFT/chapter-45-humanism-pt-3 |
# Chapter 2: Everything I Believe is False
#include "stddisclaimer.h"
* * *
_"Of course it was my fault. There's no one else here who could be responsible for anything."_
* * *
"Now, just to be clear," Harry said, "if the professor does levitate you, Dad, when you know you haven't been attached to any wires, that'... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/6L523aJDpjm4yWxue/chapter-2-everything-i-believe-is-false |
# Chapter 67: Self Actualization, Pt 2
In the high reaches of Hogwarts where rooms and corridors changed on a daily basis, where the territory itself was uncertain and not just the map, where the stability of the castle began to fray into dreams and chaos without changing its architectural style or apparent solidity -... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/9qCADrAxLZWt2sZeX/chapter-67-self-actualization-pt-2 |
# Chapter 10: Self Awareness, Part II
All your base are still belong to Rowling.
* * *
And now you will sit through the Sorting Hat singing its version of Evanescence's "My Immortal", which has never happened before.
just kidding
* * *
...he wondered if the Sorting Hat was genuinely _conscious_ in the sense of be... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/ymaAWJMJzPSyTW8o2/chapter-10-self-awareness-part-ii |
# Chapter 24: Machiavellian Intelligence Hypothesis
J. K. Rowling coils and strikes, unseen; Orca circles, hard and lean.
* * *
_Act 3:_
* * *
Draco waited in a small windowed alcove he'd found near the Great Hall, stomach churning.
There would be a price, and it would not be small. Draco had known that as soon a... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/RJ5EiSTvvDDs3wTsu/chapter-24-machiavellian-intelligence-hypothesis |
# Chapter 96: Roles, Pt 7
_A/N: For those who have not read canon: The wooden sign has somewhat changed, but the inscription here is the same as in J.K. Rowling's original._
* * *
_The fourth meeting:
(4:38pm, April 17th, 1992)_
The man wearing the worn, warm coat, with three faint scars etched forever into his c... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/gSrzwWby3bP28vuCT/chapter-96-roles-pt-7 |
# Chapter 116: Aftermath, Something to Protect, Pt 0
At first Anna had been gratified to see the final Quidditch Cup go on so long - as a Gryffindor she was a bystander at the House Cup thing, it wasn't like Gryffindor ever won. In contrast, last year's World Cup of Quidditch, to which her family had bought some very ... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/PYypGqzCiiTkm9HWv/chapter-116-aftermath-something-to-protect-pt-0 |
# Chapter 81: Taboo Tradeoffs, Pt 3
In rising half-circles of dark stone, a great sea of upraised hands.
The Lords and Ladies of the Wizengamot, in plum-colored robes marked with a silver 'W', stared down in stern rebuke at a young girl trembling in chains. If they had, in any particular ethical system, damned themse... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/jJekxY2D8zBC2yT6M/chapter-81-taboo-tradeoffs-pt-3 |
# Chapter 87: Hedonic Awareness
_Thursday, April 16th, 1992._
The school was almost deserted now, nine-tenths of the students having gone home for the Easter holiday, just about everyone she knew missing. Susan had stayed behind, her grand-aunt being quite busy, as had Ron for reasons she didn't know - maybe the Weas... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/tffiESEnfSK89GqiM/chapter-87-hedonic-awareness |
# Chapter 76: Interlude with the Confessor: Sunk Costs
Rianne Felthorne descended the stairs of roughened stone and crude mortar, keeping a _Lumos_ lit through the distances between fire-sconces, holding aloft her wand through the gaps from light to light.
She came to the empty rock cavern pierced by many dark openin... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/4MhEnx8K7Bryxh9iX/chapter-76-interlude-with-the-confessor-sunk-costs |
# Chapter 6: The Planning Fallacy
Blah blah disclaimer blah blah Rowling blah blah ownership.
A/N: The "Aftermath" section of this chapter is part of the story, _not_ omake.
* * *
_You think your day was surreal? Try mine._
* * *
_Some_ children would have waited until _after_ their first trip to Diagon Alley.
"... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/5tXiw9PBCqFLHs2Mp/chapter-6-the-planning-fallacy |
# Chapter 113: Final Exam
The gibbous moon riding higher in the cloudless sky, the stars and wash of the Milky Way visible in all their majesty within the darkness: All these illuminated thirty-seven skull masks gleaming above black robes, and the darker-clad Lord Voldemort, whose eyes shone red.
"Welcome, my Death E... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/shPgZtpw7dEP6vZ65/chapter-113-final-exam |
# Chapter 58: TSPE, Constrained Cognition, Pt 8
A/N: A movie trailer for _Army of Darkness,_ resembling the one Harry saw, is THV1KkPXIxQ on YouTube.
The key quote is as follows, spoken by a man of modern times to listeners from the Middle Ages:
"All right you primitive screwheads! Listen up! You see this? This... i... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/BizSX5M3WouxHmDQG/chapter-58-tspe-constrained-cognition-pt-8 |
# Chapter 68: Self Actualization, Pt 3
Hermione wasn't feeling very nice right now, or Good either, there was a hot ball of anger burning inside her and she wondered if this was something like Harry's darkness (though it probably wasn't even close) and she shouldn't have felt that way over some silly little game but -... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/yB3yjYPf2H722hztd/chapter-68-self-actualization-pt-3 |
# Chapter 34: Coordination Problems, Pt 2
Minerva and Dumbledore together had applied their combined talent to conjure the grand stage toward which Quirrell now slowly trudged; it was, at its core, sturdy wood, but the outer surfaces shone with glitter of marble inlaid with platinum and studded with gems of every Hous... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/Ms8CK7KFpC4krAyf5/chapter-34-coordination-problems-pt-2 |
# Chapter 97: Roles, Pt 8
For the second time that day, Harry's eyes filled with tears. Heedless of the puzzled eyes of the Ravenclaws in the common room, he reached out to the silver creature which Draco Malfoy had sent, cradling it in his arms like a live thing; and stumbled off in the direction of his dorm room, he... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/vnbTgoENKRkpttAcB/chapter-97-roles-pt-8 |
# Chapter 11: Omake Files 1, 2, 3
Hail the Dark Lord Rowling.
"Omake" is a non-canonical extra.
* * *
OMAKE FILES #1: 72 Hours to Victory
(A.k.a. "What Happens If You Change Harry But Leave All Other Characters Constant")
Dumbledore peered over his desk at young Harry, twinkling in a kindly sort of way. The boy h... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/CSrtbghkgTTpDmWhT/chapter-11-omake-files-1-2-3 |
# Chapter 103: Tests
_June 4th, 1992._
Daphne Greengrass was in the Slytherin common room, writing a letter to her Lady Mother (who was surprisingly intransigent about power-sharing, despite not even _being_ in Hogwarts to exercise control) when she saw Draco Malfoy stagger in through the portrait door carrying what ... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/rF6h39aXMyNyvoP2p/chapter-103-tests |
# Chapter 82: Taboo Tradeoffs, Final
Phoenix travel was a sensation entirely unlike Apparition or portkeys. You caught on fire - you definitely felt yourself catching on fire, even though there was no pain - and instead of burning to ashes, the fire burned all the way through you and you _became_ fire, and then you we... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/dqic7DyR5eLTi2htS/chapter-82-taboo-tradeoffs-final |
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