HPMoR and the Limits of Rationality

Anthea
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One woman's quest to understand the Harry Potter fanfic that created the modern world.

Episodes

  1. 5D AGO

    Ep. 2: Wingardium Leviscrewyou

    In chapter 2, a woman turns into a cat. Anthea and Regina discuss the pros and cons of reasoning from first principles, the collision of the profound and the mundane, and a cool Bavarian. Citations and further reading Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, chapter 2: https://hpmor.com/chapter/2HPMoR and Science: https://hpmor.com/science/“Rationality Quotes 1,” Eliezer Yudkowsky. LessWrong. 15 January 2008. https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/LiDk2XMBFmRiju4x3/rationality-quotes-1“Interstitial Comments on Dawkins,” Mencius Moldbug. Unqualified Reservations.11 October 2007. https://www.unqualified-reservations.org/2007/10/interstitial-comments-on-dawkins/“The Anti-Reactionary FAQ,” Scott Alexander. Slate Star Codex. 20 October 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131126130345/http://slatestarcodex.com/2013/10/20/the-anti-reactionary-faq “Geeks for Monarchy: The Rise of the Neoreactionaries,” Klint Finley. TechCrunch, 22 November 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131124080402/https://techcrunch.com/2013/11/22/geeks-for-monarchy/“Mr. Jones Is Rather Concerned,” Mencius Moldbut. Unqualified Reservation. 28 November 2013. https://www.unqualified-reservations.org/2013/11/mr-jones-is-rather-concerned/ “Symmetry for Dummies: Noether’s Theorem,” Will Sweatman. Hackaday.com. 14 June 2016. https://hackaday.com/2016/06/14/symmetry-for-dummies-noethers-theorem/“E. Noether's Discovery of the Deep Connection Between Symmetries and Conservation Laws,” Nina Byers. 23 September 1998. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.physics/9807044“ELI5 What are Hamiltonian and Langrarian Mechanics? What do they concern?” answer by u/CreatureOfPrometheus. 4 May 2019. https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/bkka3z/comment/emhm30p/“Unitarity,” Wikipedia. Accessed 29 March 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitarity“My Childhood Death Spiral,” Eliezer Yudkowsky. LessWrong. 14 September 2008. https://www.lesswrong.com/s/SXurf2mWFw8LX2mkG/p/uD9TDHPwQ5hx4CgaX“How Peter Thiel’s Relationship With Eliezer Yudkowsky Launched the AI Revolution,” Keach Hagey. Wired. 20 May 2025. https://web.archive.org/web/20260204143917/https://www.wired.com/story/book-excerpt-the-optimist-open-ai-sam-altman/ “The Pleasure of Finding Things Out,” from The Pleasure of Finding Things Out, Richard Feynman. Original interview 1981, collected in 1999.

    1h 24m

  2. MAR 10

    Ep. 1: A Podcast of Very Low Probability

    Anthea introduces Jake and Elisa to the world of Rationality, Eliezer Yudkowsky, and HPMoR. A surprising level of empathy for Petunia Evans emerges. Citations and further reading Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, chapter 1: https://hpmor.com/chapter/1Neoreaction a Basilisk, Elizabeth Sandifer: https://bookshop.org/p/books/neoreaction-a-basilisk-essays-on-and-around-the-alt-right/850f22fb82ae27c6The Zizians series, Behind the Bastards. 12-21 March 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mJAerUL-7whttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IqARk6Fru4https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWy5YGWHaNAhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OogotniaUXICurtis Yarvin, Behind the Bastards. 17-19 September 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYrPNvVhKLUhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpEg4LS3CT0Peter Thiel and Yudkowsky’s history is discussed in “No Death, No Taxes,” George Packer. The New Yorker, 20 November 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20140801231953/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/11/28/no-death-no-taxesCurtis Yarvin, Neoreaction, Yudkowsky, and Roko’s Basilisk are discussed in “The Strange and Terrifying Ideas of Neoreactionaries,” Nathan J. Robinson and Elizabeth Sandifer. Current Affairs, 30 May 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20251111012737/https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/2022/05/the-strange-and-terrifying-ideas-of-neoreactionaries “Why is Mencius Moldbug so popular on LessWrong?” https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/6qPextf9KyWLFJ53j/why-is-mencius-moldbug-so-popular-on-less-wrong-answer-he-sFeynman Lectures on Physics Volumes 1,2,3. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4tHb1egFTm4Rlc3OEFrVmNGQUk/view?resourcekey=0-O8AOzf-ZN7FBDUoHR1WJrQ Discussion of the cultic milieu: https://web.archive.org/web/20250424005912/https://www.vectorsconference.com/culticmilieu_eng“The Harry Potter Fan Fiction Author Who Wants to Make Everyone a Little More Rational,” David Whelan. Vice, 2 March 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20201108113155/https://www.vice.com/en/article/gq84xy/theres-something-weird-happening-in-the-world-of-harry-potter-168“'Harry Potter' and the Key to Immortality,” Daniel D. Snyder. The Atlantic, 18 July 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110725060304/http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/07/harry-potter-and-the-key-to-immortality/241972/

    1h 42m
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One woman's quest to understand the Harry Potter fanfic that created the modern world.

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