Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality

Felt illegal to be an alignment researcher and LessWrong poster without having read this, so thought I’d close the gap. I can definitely see the appeal, and it might have completely blown my mind if I had read it as a teenager. I still found it very fun and a good introduction to rationalist ideas. As a story, it started dragging on a bit too much, and became way too convoluted as it went on. I found it most compelling when Harry attempted applying the scientific method to understanding magic, and least when I had to make sense of progressively more galaxy-brained plots.

I think there’d be a market for stories of the type ‘scientist tries to figure out weird-ass rules of new worlds’. I’d read it!

Claude recommends The Clockwork Rocket by Greg Egan as fitting for this, so I might read it!