Any ideas on what the Philosopher’s Stone does? My favorite idea so far, seen in the fanfiction.net reviews, is that it’s a device for making transfiguration permanent. That would account for both gold and healing powers.
However that wouldn’t wrap up the story nicely in a single story arc.
It is a wish device. Probably a direct interface to the Source of Magic (itself an UFAI or Nanny AGI created by the Atlantian civilization and which underwent hard takeoff), bypassing the various operating systems, isolation layers, and programs that have been put in place on top of the Source of Magic over the years, e.g. the interdict of Merlin and whatever macro-extensible program runs charms & potions. The philosopher’s stone directly links one’s mind to the Source of Magic, thereby making whatever physically possible thing you think of come true. Kinda like the device in the book / movie Sphere, for example. It is said to create eternal youth and gold because that is what the creater of the stone wanted.
Harry aquires the stone, and uses it to re-write the rules governing the Source of Magic, becoming god in a single step and sets about “optimizing the world.”
Well this isn’t a story for the sake of being a story. It’s meant to educate, not just entertain. Sometimes the moral is: invent the spells Becomus Godus and Fixus Everthingus and use them. Keeping in mind why Eliezer is spending his presumably valuable time writing Harry Potter fanfiction, it seems inevitable to me that some sort of overpowered ending is required. Eliezer’s quest is to reshape the world in a positive way through friendly AGI. Harry’s goal is the same (substituting magic = AGI).
If the above theory is correct, we’re in for a story arc about outcome pumps, wish granting machines, extrapolated morality, and hard takeoffs. Because the point of this is to make readers want (a) to be more rational, and then (b) to help MIRI on its FAI quest, no?
Any ideas on what the Philosopher’s Stone does? My favorite idea so far, seen in the fanfiction.net reviews, is that it’s a device for making transfiguration permanent. That would account for both gold and healing powers.
However that wouldn’t wrap up the story nicely in a single story arc.
It is a wish device. Probably a direct interface to the Source of Magic (itself an UFAI or Nanny AGI created by the Atlantian civilization and which underwent hard takeoff), bypassing the various operating systems, isolation layers, and programs that have been put in place on top of the Source of Magic over the years, e.g. the interdict of Merlin and whatever macro-extensible program runs charms & potions. The philosopher’s stone directly links one’s mind to the Source of Magic, thereby making whatever physically possible thing you think of come true. Kinda like the device in the book / movie Sphere, for example. It is said to create eternal youth and gold because that is what the creater of the stone wanted.
Harry aquires the stone, and uses it to re-write the rules governing the Source of Magic, becoming god in a single step and sets about “optimizing the world.”
I think/hope Eliezer shares my distaste for such overpowered plot devices.
Well this isn’t a story for the sake of being a story. It’s meant to educate, not just entertain. Sometimes the moral is: invent the spells Becomus Godus and Fixus Everthingus and use them. Keeping in mind why Eliezer is spending his presumably valuable time writing Harry Potter fanfiction, it seems inevitable to me that some sort of overpowered ending is required. Eliezer’s quest is to reshape the world in a positive way through friendly AGI. Harry’s goal is the same (substituting magic = AGI).
If the above theory is correct, we’re in for a story arc about outcome pumps, wish granting machines, extrapolated morality, and hard takeoffs. Because the point of this is to make readers want (a) to be more rational, and then (b) to help MIRI on its FAI quest, no?