pedanterrific comments on Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality discussion thread, part 18, chapter 87

pedanterrific 24 Dec 2012 18:01 UTC
1 point
The Killing Curse is

“A magically embodied preference for death over life, striking within the plane of pure life force… that does sound like a difficult spell to block.”
- ikrase 25 Dec 2012 22:12 UTC
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  Not only that but Harry says that wanting them dead needs to be a terminal value in your utility function. Thats what I meant.
- MugaSofer 24 Dec 2012 21:39 UTC
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  I assumed that he blocked Quirrelmort’s curse due to their magical interference, not because the True Patronus is actually intended as a way of blocking Avada Kedavera
  - pedanterrific 24 Dec 2012 22:16 UTC
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    Whether or not the True Patronus can block anyone else’s Killing Curse, the way it’s described above sounds pretty antithetical to me.
    - MugaSofer 25 Dec 2012 13:26 UTC
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      Oh, I see. Because the True Patronus is a magically embodied preference for life over death … interesting.
  - ikrase 26 Dec 2012 7:28 UTC
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    Also, the Patronus automatically moved to block the killing curse based on Harry’s preference, without his will or knowledge of the magical interference.