Joke aside, I feel less confused after your clarifications. I think the issue is that it wasn’t clear at all to me that you were talking about the whole “interpreting Yudkowsky” schtick as the icky feeling.
Now it makes sense, and I definitely agree with you that there are enormous parallel with Biblical analysis. Yudkowsky’s writing is very biblical in ways IMO (the parables and the dialogues), and in general is far more literary than 99% of the rat writing out there. I’m not surprised he found HPMOR easy to write, his approach to almost everything seem like a mix of literary fiction and science-fiction tropes/ideas.
Which is IMO why this whole interpretation is so important. More and more, I think I’m understanding why so many people get frustrated with Yudkowsky’s writing and points: because they come expecting essays with arguments and a central point, and instead they get a literary text that requires strong interpretation before revealing what it means. I expect your icky feeling to come from the same place.
(Note that I think Yudkowsky is not doing that to be obscure, but for a mix of “it’s easier for him” and “he believes that you only learn and internalize the sort of knowledge he’s trying to convey through this interpretative labor, if not on the world itself, at least on his text”.)
Also, as a clarifier: I’m not comparing the content of literary fiction or the Bible to Yudkowsky’s writing. Generally with analysis of the former, you either get mysterious answers or platitudes; more and more with Yudkwosky I’m getting what I feel are deep insights (and his feedback on this post make me think that I’m not off the mark by much for some of those).
Oh no, confusion is going foom!
Joke aside, I feel less confused after your clarifications. I think the issue is that it wasn’t clear at all to me that you were talking about the whole “interpreting Yudkowsky” schtick as the icky feeling.
Now it makes sense, and I definitely agree with you that there are enormous parallel with Biblical analysis. Yudkowsky’s writing is very biblical in ways IMO (the parables and the dialogues), and in general is far more literary than 99% of the rat writing out there. I’m not surprised he found HPMOR easy to write, his approach to almost everything seem like a mix of literary fiction and science-fiction tropes/ideas.
Which is IMO why this whole interpretation is so important. More and more, I think I’m understanding why so many people get frustrated with Yudkowsky’s writing and points: because they come expecting essays with arguments and a central point, and instead they get a literary text that requires strong interpretation before revealing what it means. I expect your icky feeling to come from the same place.
(Note that I think Yudkowsky is not doing that to be obscure, but for a mix of “it’s easier for him” and “he believes that you only learn and internalize the sort of knowledge he’s trying to convey through this interpretative labor, if not on the world itself, at least on his text”.)
Also, as a clarifier: I’m not comparing the content of literary fiction or the Bible to Yudkowsky’s writing. Generally with analysis of the former, you either get mysterious answers or platitudes; more and more with Yudkwosky I’m getting what I feel are deep insights (and his feedback on this post make me think that I’m not off the mark by much for some of those).