Dang, I wish I had read this before the EA Forum’s creative writing contest closed. It makes a lot of sense that HPMOR could be valuable via this “first-person-optimizing-experience” mechanism—I had read it after reading the Sequences, so I was mostly looking for examples of rationality techniques and secret hidden Jedi knowledge.
Since HPMOR!Harry isn’t so much EA as transhumanist, I wonder if a first-person EA experience could be made interesting enough to be a useful story? I suppose the Comet King from Unsong is also kind of close to this niche, but not really described in first person or designed to be related to. This might be worth a stab...
Hpmor got me to read the sequences by presenting a teaser of what a rationalist could do and then offering the real me that power. This line from the OP resonated deeply:
Taken together, caring deeply about maximizing human fulfillment and improving my cognitive algorithms changed my life. I don’t know if this particular book will have this particular effect on you. For example, you might not be primarily altruistically motivated on reflection. That’s fine. I think you may still selfishly benefit from this viewpoint and skillset.
The sequences then expanded that vision into something concrete, and did in fact completely change my life for the better.
Dang, I wish I had read this before the EA Forum’s creative writing contest closed. It makes a lot of sense that HPMOR could be valuable via this “first-person-optimizing-experience” mechanism—I had read it after reading the Sequences, so I was mostly looking for examples of rationality techniques and secret hidden Jedi knowledge.
Since HPMOR!Harry isn’t so much EA as transhumanist, I wonder if a first-person EA experience could be made interesting enough to be a useful story? I suppose the Comet King from Unsong is also kind of close to this niche, but not really described in first person or designed to be related to. This might be worth a stab...
Hpmor got me to read the sequences by presenting a teaser of what a rationalist could do and then offering the real me that power. This line from the OP resonated deeply:
The sequences then expanded that vision into something concrete, and did in fact completely change my life for the better.