Book · 2015
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality
- mentions
- 6
- person
- 1
- podcast
- 1
- episodes
- 5
- recommendations
- 0
Harry Potter and the methods of rationality which is the name of his fanfic is a massive much longer than the first Harry Potter book rewrite of just the first Harry Potter book where Harry is someone rewrote this sorcerer Stone to be rational.
What they say about it
- College reading material“starts reading around this time when she's in college”2
The best things said about it
Sonia was 14 when she first read Yudkowsky's Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, which has set her on the path that led her to moving to the Bay Area in order to get involved in the rationalist EA set.
She starts reading around this time when she's in college Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality. This helps to solidify her feelings of her own centrality as a hero figure.
Uh, the founding text or at least one of them of rationalism is a 66,000-word Harry Potter fanfic that is just nonsense.
Why people recommend it
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality by Eliezer Yudkowsky is a massive, widely read piece of fan fiction that reimagines the original wizarding universe through the lens of scientific rationality and critical thinking. The text was analyzed extensively on Behind the Bastards, where Robert Evans explored its surprising and dark legacy as a foundational touchstone for the modern rationalist movement and the effective altruism community. Evans discussed how figures within that subculture, including a subject named Ziz, read the fan fiction in their youth or college years, which significantly shaped their intellectual journeys and sense of heroic centrality. The podcast highlighted how Ziz later invoked specific concepts from the fan fiction, such as Quirrell's algorithm, when contemplating theoretical acts of violence or expressing the mindset needed to survive life-threatening situations. Evans described the book as a sprawling rewrite of the first Harry Potter novel designed to make the titular character deeply analytical, unintentionally giving rise to a devoted online subculture. By tracing the influence of Yudkowsky's internet writing on real-world communities and subsequent ideological extremes, the podcast used the fan fiction as a case study in how niche internet literature can profoundly influence vulnerable readers, shape insular philosophical movements, and foster dangerous cult-like behaviors among tech-focused adherents.
Every mention
Robert Evans Sonia was 14 when she first read Yudkowsky's Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, which has set her… 6
“On her blog when discussing theoretical acts of deadly violence, Ziz referred to what she called Quirrel's algorithm from the Harry Potter rationalist fan pick these people all love. And she quoted this line from the book describing the mental state she believed was necessary to survive a life-threatening situation.”
“Sonia was 14 when she first read Yudkowsky's Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, which has set her on the path that led her to moving to the Bay Area in order to get involved in the rationalist EA set”
“um she starts reading around this time when she's in college Harry Potter and the methods of rationality This helps to solidify her feelings of her own centrality as a hero figure”
“she starts reading around this time when she's in college Harry Potter and the methods of rationality this helps to solidify her feelings of her own centrality as a hero figure um in a blog post Where She lays out her intellectual Journey she quotes a line from that fanfic of y yudkowsky”
“Harry Potter and the methods of rationality which is the name of his fanfic is a massive much longer than the first Harry Potter book rewrite of just the first Harry Potter book where Harry is someone rewrote this sorcerer Stone to be rational”
“Uh, the founding text or at least one of them of rationalism is a 66,000-word Harry Potter fanfic that is just nonsense.”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
Other mentions (1: passing, ad reads, own books)
“And the whole reason why Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality is popular is because people read it and picked up the rhythm seen in a character’s thoughts of a thing that was not in their schooling system”