It may not be as memetically optimized for the modern LW audience as ingroup-written rationalfic, but I recommend reading A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s
Court. It is (one of?) the first-ever ‘engineer uses technical knowledge to fix a primitive society and instill modern values’ stories.
Any recommendations for works of fiction where the protagonist is sufficiently strategic and agenty? Limitless, Death Note, and HPMoR come to mind.
Ascendance of a Bookworm
The Saga of Tanya the Evil
Both are reincarnation isekai where the protagonist uses memories from her past life to her strategic advantage.
Crystal Trilogy
It may not be as memetically optimized for the modern LW audience as ingroup-written rationalfic, but I recommend reading A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. It is (one of?) the first-ever ‘engineer uses technical knowledge to fix a primitive society and instill modern values’ stories.