First, I should admit that (as Nornagest points out) that there actually ARE gods in the show, and magic. So it wasn’t strictly relevant to this thread. But the magic and gods follow a set of rules that are comprehensible given the laws of their universe (which is an important plot point).
My honest appraisal of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, is as follows:
It is a show marketed to little girls about ponies who are friends. On some level, you ARE going to need to be okay with this. No matter how good the show is, it’s still a show marketed to little girls about ponies who are friends. “Okay with this” isn’t even really enough—to enjoy the show, part of you needs to in particular enjoy the absurdity that goes along with enjoying it.
But it is a legitimately good show, for a few reasons. For one, the animation is genuinely good (this is particularly obvious to me because I’ve studied animation, you will probably notice on a vague unconscious level but not realize why you like it). The show’s creator, Lauren Faust, has previously worked as storyboard artist on Powerpuff Girls and Foster’s Home for Imaginary friends, also excellent shows. It’s funny, and fun in a way that taps into my primal, childlike self.
Faust also had some articulate, nuanced, intellectual goals for the show. Most of these goals relate to young girls, giving them positive inspiration in a way that most girl-oriented shows don’t. This may not matter to you, but understanding her background can give you a lot of appreciation for the show that may not be obvious.
Most relevant to Less Wrong, is that the main character, Twilight Sparkle, has two great instrumental powers. One of them is new to her, and she is still developing, and that is friendship. Twilight begins as an emotional shut-in who must learn to build a community in order to solve problems. But her other great power is her scholarship and rationality. She’s constantly studying. When presented with a problem, her first response is to study the existing literature, see what the greatest minds of her generation have discovered, and then apply her own problem-solving skills if the existing literature is insufficient.
This applies whether she is trying to unravel a curse that’s afflicting her village, studying a bizarre phenomenon she doesn’t understand, or having a maximally fun sleepover party. (She has never had a sleepover before, she doesn’t know how to have a sleepover, and she solves this problem by finding a book on sleepovers and following its recommendations. Her sleepover does not go well due to interpersonal conflict, but not once does anyone say “reading a book about how to party is lame.”)
Does she say the phrase “Bayesian Updating”? No. This show’s primary purpose is to sell toys to impressionable children, and all of Lauren Faust’s lofty feminist and rational goals have to be worked in that framework. This is a show about ponies who are friends. It’s probably not the best possible show about ponies who are friends. But yes, it’s pretty good.
They are about this by way of negative example. In Feeling Pinkie Keen, for example, Twilight Sparkle pulls a Straw Vulcan by refusing to accept some very very strong evidence of things… and, instead of the writers colluding with her, she gets called on it by her friends (this not a spoiler—it happens essentially right away).
Other episodes prominently featuring errors of deduction (that get pointed out, not just plot holes/idiot ball): Bridle Gossip, Lesson Zero, and Griffon the Brush-Off.
Also, in Fall Weather Friends, Twilight Sparkle performs much better in a race than one would expect for a novice because she read up on how to do it well.
I’d agree with Raemon’s comment, especially the last two sentences—it’s not the best possible show about ponies who are friends, but it’s good enough to demonstrate the upper bound on the quality of such shows is much higher than generally suspected.
Before you get too enthusiastic about MLP:FiM’s nontheist bona fides, bear in mind that one of the main characters is essentially a grad student under the local sun goddess.
While the situation is complicated by the fact that the sun goddess is also a (figurehead?) queen, the gods and magic in the show are treated largely the way they are in the Discworld books: as parts of life to be accepted and dealt with just like the rest of the world.
What, what? Do I need to start watching this show?
First, I should admit that (as Nornagest points out) that there actually ARE gods in the show, and magic. So it wasn’t strictly relevant to this thread. But the magic and gods follow a set of rules that are comprehensible given the laws of their universe (which is an important plot point).
My honest appraisal of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, is as follows:
It is a show marketed to little girls about ponies who are friends. On some level, you ARE going to need to be okay with this. No matter how good the show is, it’s still a show marketed to little girls about ponies who are friends. “Okay with this” isn’t even really enough—to enjoy the show, part of you needs to in particular enjoy the absurdity that goes along with enjoying it.
But it is a legitimately good show, for a few reasons. For one, the animation is genuinely good (this is particularly obvious to me because I’ve studied animation, you will probably notice on a vague unconscious level but not realize why you like it). The show’s creator, Lauren Faust, has previously worked as storyboard artist on Powerpuff Girls and Foster’s Home for Imaginary friends, also excellent shows. It’s funny, and fun in a way that taps into my primal, childlike self.
Faust also had some articulate, nuanced, intellectual goals for the show. Most of these goals relate to young girls, giving them positive inspiration in a way that most girl-oriented shows don’t. This may not matter to you, but understanding her background can give you a lot of appreciation for the show that may not be obvious.
Most relevant to Less Wrong, is that the main character, Twilight Sparkle, has two great instrumental powers. One of them is new to her, and she is still developing, and that is friendship. Twilight begins as an emotional shut-in who must learn to build a community in order to solve problems. But her other great power is her scholarship and rationality. She’s constantly studying. When presented with a problem, her first response is to study the existing literature, see what the greatest minds of her generation have discovered, and then apply her own problem-solving skills if the existing literature is insufficient.
This applies whether she is trying to unravel a curse that’s afflicting her village, studying a bizarre phenomenon she doesn’t understand, or having a maximally fun sleepover party. (She has never had a sleepover before, she doesn’t know how to have a sleepover, and she solves this problem by finding a book on sleepovers and following its recommendations. Her sleepover does not go well due to interpersonal conflict, but not once does anyone say “reading a book about how to party is lame.”)
Does she say the phrase “Bayesian Updating”? No. This show’s primary purpose is to sell toys to impressionable children, and all of Lauren Faust’s lofty feminist and rational goals have to be worked in that framework. This is a show about ponies who are friends. It’s probably not the best possible show about ponies who are friends. But yes, it’s pretty good.
They are about this by way of negative example. In Feeling Pinkie Keen, for example, Twilight Sparkle pulls a Straw Vulcan by refusing to accept some very very strong evidence of things… and, instead of the writers colluding with her, she gets called on it by her friends (this not a spoiler—it happens essentially right away).
Other episodes prominently featuring errors of deduction (that get pointed out, not just plot holes/idiot ball): Bridle Gossip, Lesson Zero, and Griffon the Brush-Off.
Also, in Fall Weather Friends, Twilight Sparkle performs much better in a race than one would expect for a novice because she read up on how to do it well.
I’d agree with Raemon’s comment, especially the last two sentences—it’s not the best possible show about ponies who are friends, but it’s good enough to demonstrate the upper bound on the quality of such shows is much higher than generally suspected.
Good way of putting it.
Before you get too enthusiastic about MLP:FiM’s nontheist bona fides, bear in mind that one of the main characters is essentially a grad student under the local sun goddess.
While the situation is complicated by the fact that the sun goddess is also a (figurehead?) queen, the gods and magic in the show are treated largely the way they are in the Discworld books: as parts of life to be accepted and dealt with just like the rest of the world.