RR#15: Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality

Today’s post is a tad bit delayed than usual. I typically do a certain degree of due diligence before plunging myself into reading something but clearly, I haven’t been paying a great deal of attention of late. No guys, I did not pick up a Kindle Unlimited erotica but actually ended up reading volume 1 of an entire series, without realizing its greater extent. And this for a book where the author has suggested himself that if you aren’t into it by the 5th chapter, read till the 10th chapter and if it still doesn’t work chuck it there all the same.

Despite having been scarred by the abomination that Cursed Child was, for most readers of my generation the Harry Potter series was an excellent gateway to reading. Thus, despite the clamors by certain boomers to “read another book”, there is immense nostalgia and love for the works, continuing on to this day. How else would I remember that Bladvak means “pickaxe” in Gobbledegook, thanks to Ludovic Bagman’s linguistic abilities? But I digress because today’s discussion has to be all about the scientific method. It feels like the late 2000s cause I’ve decided to partake of fanfiction again, this time with Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality by Eliezer Yudkowsky. An AI researcher by profession and a big HP buff, Yudkowsky decided to write the story in an effort to promote his forum for rational thinkers, Lesswrong. The key differentiation in this series is that Harry is fostered and home-schooled by Petunia and Michael Veres, an Oxford professor thus inculcating the scientific method of thinking into him as a kid. This results in a Harry, surely disconcerting for many, who is approaching everything in a logical manner, thrives on books, and is extremely ambitious to the fore. Some of that original sass is retained though. I wonder if many of you would think that this is some re-characterization of Hermione, but she’s in the mix too – just as you know her from the books. Of the trio, it’s Ron who’s limited to guest appearances. I don’t blame him, Harry’s a completely different bloke here with extensive relationships with Draco and Quirell. Apologies if my distaste for evil Slytherins is showing, but I’m finding it hard to hold on to my self-made promise of being unbiased. Well, not a lot of rational thinking on my part after all.

The read: I was quite intrigued by the concept quite frankly, which led me to pick it up in the first place. Consistent application of Bayesian logic and extensive discussions about chromosomal crossover amongst muggles in a wizarding context? I’m in, suckers. I guess it’s easy to read because of the natural comfort with the characters and settings. I guess I could also say a lot of people won’t be able to digest some of the variations, given how hard they’ve held on to the original plot. Either way, after a certain point, it feels like one is going in circles. Does Harry want to rule over the world or not? Is he being duped by those he ‘trusts’ despite his ability to play the bigger game? These narratives continue to fester among his numerous experiments to marry science and magic as we know it. I did like the author’s nods and references to both real-life events and happenings from the original work and it shows that well-built fan fiction shouldn’t be looked at in distaste by purists but as a distinct literature category of its own. Quite frankly, I’m fairly ambiguous about recommending this to anyone. We’re so used to being enthralled by the unreal and fantastical, one can say there’s not a lot of rationality about characters trying to be rational.

Trivia: The book references the travails of French scientist Rene Blondot who theorized N-Rays just after the discovery of X-rays. As it turned out he couldn’t prove what he discovered to the larger science community, descending into madness subsequently. Here’s a nice read about the same.

Documentation:

Book: Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality

Author: Eliezer Yudkowsky

Year of Release: 2015
Published: Online, you can read the entire works here. There was a Kickstarter for print versions too.