Top all-time · #476
Eliezer Yudkowsky
Personal blog · hpmor.comwritingculture
Eliezer Yudkowsky writes Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, a personal blog at hpmor.com about writing and culture. Since 2012, 121 different Hacker News readers have linked it 144 times, most often “Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality”. The last post was in 2015, but the archive is still widely read.
Often recommended · 16 of 40 sampled comments recommend it?
Why HN links it
HN readers recommend Yudkowsky's Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality as a free, entertaining introduction to rationality and cognitive biases. Commenters often quote its chapters.
- Recommended for · 16 comments
- Commenters call it "hands down the best book of 2015" and "entertaining", and say it explains cognitive biases well.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 40 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Most-linked posts?
- Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality32 people · 36 mentions · first linked 2012-01-05
- Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality27 people · 27 mentions · first linked 2017-02-05
- Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality just got several fascinating updates9 people · 11 mentions · first linked 2012-03-13
- Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality9 people · 9 mentions · first linked 2023-07-09
- /chapter/646 people · 6 mentions · first linked 2013-03-07
- Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality6 people · 6 mentions · first linked 2017-07-10
- Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality5 people · 5 mentions · first linked 2020-03-29
- Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2023-04-01
What Hacker News says?
"Harry Potter and the methods of rationality" - affly known as HPMOR - https://www.hpmor.com/
Comment linking /
on “Google’s copying of the Java SE API was fair use [pdf]”Submitted Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality as a story · 163 points
HN discussionI disagree. The question at hand is how we should update our beliefs in response to the evidence of Zuck making the statement. Given the priors of P(M|R) and P(M|~R), it tells us that we shouldn't really update. Different priors would lead to a different update. Sometimes this sort of thing happens where our priors don't allow for a belief update in response to evidence. For example, does me writing this comment cha…
Comment linking /chapter/20
on “Meta lays off 11,000 people”Submitted Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality just got several fascinating updates as a story · 125 points
HN discussionOne person who understands and writes extremely well about this dynamic is Eliezer Yudkowsky. From the incomparable Harry potter and the Methods of Rationality : [0] ""I was going to be a hero, once," said Professor Quirrell, still looking upward. "Can you believe that, Miss Granger?" "No." "Thank you again, Miss Granger. It is true nonetheless... I was not naive, Miss Granger, I did not expect the power-holders to…
Comment linking /chapter/84
on ““I'm basically giving myself a permanent vacation from being BDFL””Submitted Author’s Note 119: Shameless Blegging as a story · 78 points
HN discussionSafe AI [1], on the other hand, has [2] running on < $1M and [3] running on $10M (!) from Musk. Throw in Yudkowsky's recently expressed interest in startups [4] and you can guess what I am guessing. [1] http://blog.samaltman.com/machine-intelligence-part-1 [2] https://intelligence.org/donate/ [3] http://futureoflife.org/AI/AI_beneficial [4] http://hpmor.com/notes/119/
Comment linking /notes/119/
on “YC Research”Submitted Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality as a story · 26 points
HN discussionAlas it's too late, for his brain is dead and warm. There was a nice 'translation of a song' on today's Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality chapter ( http://hpmor.com/chapter/120 ), I'll repost here: Even if the stars should die in heaven, Our sins can never be undone. No single death will be forgiven When fades at last the last lit sun. Then in the cold and silent black As light and matter end, We'll have o…
Comment linking /chapter/120
on “Sir Terry Pratchett has died”Submitted Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality as a story · 24 points
HN discussionCheck out _The Eden Express_ by Mark Vonnegut (son of Kurt Vonnegut). It is a memoir documenting the author's own psychotic breakdown. Reading this gave me insight into the human mind and what it's like when it goes off the rails. You say "anything that transforms me into a smarter, wiser person" so I'll add Eliezer Yudkowsky's fanfic _Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality_ ( http://www.hpmor.com/ ) The whole…
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on “Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?”Submitted Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, Chapter 113: Final Exam as a story · 22 points
HN discussionHere are some of my favorites that I'd recommend: The Toxoplasma of Rage: An essay about how more controversial examples tend to get elevated and thinking about why that happens. https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/12/17/the-toxoplasma-of-rage... Meditations On Moloch: An essay about how incentives and coordination problems cause systemic societal issues: https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/ Who…
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on “Still alive”Submitted Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality as a story · 10 points
HN discussionI read a lot of fanfiction in the last years. On the downside the writing is less polished. On the upside it is free and non-mainstream. I was influenced by Eliezer Yudkowsky and his take on rationality. His fanfiction "Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality" serves as a nice introduction. http://www.hpmor.com/ Worm by John McCrae is an epic superhero/villain story. Consider it Game of Thrones in the superhero…
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on “Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?”Submitted Rationality fanfic HPMoR updated with new chapters as a story · 7 points
HN discussionOne thing I've been thinking about recently is conservation rules. are there any popular fiction worlds that explore conservation of e.g. magic? The only example I presently know about is https://www.hpmor.com/chapter/78 (search for "conservation").
Comment linking /chapter/78
on “Ask HN: What are you learning?”Submitted Eliezer's started updating Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality as a story · 5 points
HN discussionIt might have been more helpful if you had linked to a text version: http://hpmor.com/chapter/19 edit: It might also have gone over better if you had said "irrational" rather than "stupid", or perhaps "foolish". You were (if I understand right) saying that if he was unwilling to call on family for help, he was unwilling to lose face, unwilling to lose. I believe differently. I'm sure part of it was hubris, and the s…
Comment linking /chapter/19
on “What It's Like to Fail”Submitted Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality as a story · 4 points
HN discussionHarry Potter and the Methods of Rationality ( http://www.hpmor.com ), Chapter 7: """ Draco giggled. "Yeah, right. Anyway... to answer what you asked..." Draco took a deep breath, and his face turned serious. "Father once missed a Wizengamot vote for me. I was on a broom and I fell off and broke a lot of ribs. It really hurt. I'd never hurt that much before and I thought I was going to die. So Father missed this real…
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on “How to make a friend fast”Submitted Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality as a story · 4 points
HN discussionOK, bear with me here. Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality. Yes, it’s a fan fiction, and yes, it’s silly at times, but it does a great job of putting cognitive biases in a digestible format. It’s really a great piece of literature that stands up with its own merits. http://www.hpmor.com/
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on “Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?”Submitted Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality as a story · 3 points
HN discussionI have a list here with a lot that I like (some with links that are free to read online): https://zalberico.com/about/ To pick a couple though: - The Nix (best novel I’ve read in a long time): https://www.npr.org/2016/08/31/490101821/the-nix-is-a-viciou... - Lake Success - Permutation City - Harry Potter and The Methods of Rationality ( https://www.hpmor.com/ ) - True Names - Any of the stories by Ted Chiang, but sp…
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on “Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?”Submitted Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality as a story · 3 points
HN discussionI'm audiobook-ing "Harry Potter And The Methods of Rationality" by the same author. It presents some of the ideas from "Rationality" but from the point of view of Harry who is portrayed as a rationalist. In-fact the first chapter is titled "A Day of Very Low Probability" where Harry tries to think probabilistically about the new magical world he is being introduced to when he is still living with Aunt Petunia. I rec…
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on “Ask HN: Books you wish you had read earlier?”Submitted Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality is updating again as a story · 3 points
HN discussionFor me, Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality is hands down the best book of 2015: http://hpmor.com/
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on “The Best Books I Read in 2015”Submitted New Chapter: Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality as a story · 3 points
HN discussion
