A lot of the comments take a very consequentialist point of view, and they explain themselves fairly well, which is good.
Perhaps it is because I’ve seen many really bad reddit comments before (even in subreddits relating to fields usually sympathetic to rationalist ideals) and what I’m seeing here is of a different standard, but I find myself hoping to some extent that some of the people commenting here were idiots before reading HPMOR, and that somehow they became more insightful and eloquent as a result of being exposed to the fic and related content.
I think I might recommend the fic to some more people...
Thinking back, I’m almost certain that the way I was introduced to Less Wrong was through HPMOR. The long gaps between updates encouraged me to start reading the sequences, even.
It’s probably the most effective recruiting tool for rationality in the world as of now.
At least for myself , I first heard of Eliezer via the HPMOR TV Tropes page. There’s a good chance I would have read the sequences sooner or later even if I hadn’t (my brother found them independently and recommended them), but it definitely helped.
And I wouldn’t say I was an idiot before, but twenty minutes of conversation with myself from a couple years ago might change my mind. And of course it’s hard to tell how much of the difference is LW’s influence and how much is just a matter of being older and wiser.
A lot of the comments take a very consequentialist point of view, and they explain themselves fairly well, which is good.
Perhaps it is because I’ve seen many really bad reddit comments before (even in subreddits relating to fields usually sympathetic to rationalist ideals) and what I’m seeing here is of a different standard, but I find myself hoping to some extent that some of the people commenting here were idiots before reading HPMOR, and that somehow they became more insightful and eloquent as a result of being exposed to the fic and related content.
I think I might recommend the fic to some more people...
Thinking back, I’m almost certain that the way I was introduced to Less Wrong was through HPMOR. The long gaps between updates encouraged me to start reading the sequences, even.
It’s probably the most effective recruiting tool for rationality in the world as of now.
I think many of them are secretly (not secretly) LW readers :P
At least for myself , I first heard of Eliezer via the HPMOR TV Tropes page. There’s a good chance I would have read the sequences sooner or later even if I hadn’t (my brother found them independently and recommended them), but it definitely helped.
And I wouldn’t say I was an idiot before, but twenty minutes of conversation with myself from a couple years ago might change my mind. And of course it’s hard to tell how much of the difference is LW’s influence and how much is just a matter of being older and wiser.