Joshua Hobbes

• Joshua Hobbes 28 Mar 2012 2:28 UTC

  31 points

  in reply to: Eliezer Yudkowsky’s comment on: Harry Pot­ter and the Meth­ods of Ra­tion­al­ity dis­cus­sion thread, part 13, chap­ter 81

  Five days was too long, IMO. If we only had 24 hours I would have enjoyed it much more.

A few ques­tions on In­ter­na­tional Rationality

• Joshua Hobbes 28 Mar 2012 2:32 UTC

  25 points

  on: Harry Pot­ter and the Meth­ods of Ra­tion­al­ity dis­cus­sion thread, part 13, chap­ter 81

  So how many other ex-death-eaters now officially owe House Potter? Surely they can pay him.

• Joshua Hobbes 18 Dec 2012 4:00 UTC

  21 points

  in reply to: Eneasz’s comment on: Harry Pot­ter and the Meth­ods of Ra­tion­al­ity dis­cus­sion thread, part 17, chap­ter 86

  They can’t interact magically, so no.

• Joshua Hobbes 31 Dec 2011 2:55 UTC

  20 points

  on: The bias shield

  Forgive my confusion, but did you conclude that Killing Lincoln was or was not the best book on the Lincoln Assassination?

60m As­teroid cur­rently as­signed a .022% chance of hit­ting Earth.

• Joshua Hobbes 4 Mar 2015 18:04 UTC

  16 points

  in reply to: Eliezer Yudkowsky’s comment on: Harry Pot­ter and the Meth­ods of Ra­tion­al­ity dis­cus­sion thread, March 2015, chap­ter 114 + chap­ter 115

  Having the Death Eaters look around makes sense, but the paralysis seems contrived to me. It’s a very specific level of intelligence between what he have now and just having Mr. Grim cast Expelliarmus. I think it is more realistic for Voldemort to have dismissed the threat than for him to have considered it and decided that paralyzing Harry was the best solution.

• Joshua Hobbes 21 Apr 2012 15:11 UTC

  16 points

  in reply to: Daniel_Starr’s comment on: Harry Pot­ter and the Meth­ods of Ra­tion­al­ity dis­cus­sion thread, part 16, chap­ter 85

  I don’t think anyone failed to see the signs that Quirrel is Voldemort in HPMOR. There are just those of us who believed it to be a Red Herring, because “that’s how stories are supposed to work.” If a potential solution to a mystery seems very obviously true in the first quarter of the story, then in most stories it’s probably not the true solution. . Of course, at this point there’s just no denying it.

• Joshua Hobbes 27 Dec 2011 16:12 UTC

  15 points

  on: Wel­come to Less Wrong! (2012)

  So, am I a second-class citizen because I found this place via MoR?

  Anyways, I’ve been Homeschooled for the majority of my education thus far, mostly due to my Creationist parents’ concerns about government-run schools. Fortunately they didn’t think to censor the internet, and here I am. My PSATs showed me in the 98th percentile, so I expect I’ll be able to get into a decent university. Plan A has always been Engineering, but after going through a few of the more inspirational sequences I think I may readjust my plans and try to do some good for this planet. How does one get into the Singularity business?

• Joshua Hobbes 22 Apr 2012 2:21 UTC

  14 points

  on: Stupid Ques­tions Open Thread Round 2

  What practical things should everyone be doing to extend their lifetimes?

• Joshua Hobbes 10 Apr 2012 21:14 UTC

  14 points

  on: Let’s cre­ate a mar­ket for cryonics

  The thing is, with Cryonics you aren’t just fighting normal ignorance that can be destroyed with good publicity, you’re fighting Religion. If you start telling people that (Zues Forbid) death is bad and worth a significant financial risk to avoid, the Christian Right are going to get upset. There would be boycotts organized against companies supporting Cryonics, who would be portrayed as avaricious atheists trying to fight the natural order.

  The world’s sanity level isn’t high enough for this sort of thing, not yet.

• Joshua Hobbes 2 Jan 2012 16:29 UTC

  14 points

  on: An in­ducible group-”med­i­ta­tion” for use in ra­tio­nal­ity dojos

  I’m not the only one getting a somewhat cult-like vibe from this, am I?

  But really, this seems incredibly impractical. A few Lesswrongians meeting up and getting high are not going to solve the world’s problems. Not that Cannabis might not be of some assistance to actual experts, but simply being rational does not immediately qualify you to solve very much.

• Joshua Hobbes 14 Mar 2015 17:06 UTC

  13 points

  on: [FINAL CHAPTER] Harry Pot­ter and the Meth­ods of Ra­tion­al­ity dis­cus­sion thread, March 2015, chap­ter 122

  Since it looks like we won’t be getting a canonical answer, any thoughts on what exactly the Peverell Prophecy means?

  “Three shall be Peverell’s sons and three their devices by which Death shall be defeated.”

• Joshua Hobbes 23 Dec 2012 21:09 UTC

  13 points

  on: New cen­sor­ship: against hy­po­thet­i­cal vi­o­lence against iden­ti­fi­able people

  Would this censor posts about robbing banks and then donating the proceeds to charity?

• Joshua Hobbes 17 Mar 2012 15:52 UTC

  13 points

  on: Harry Pot­ter and the Meth­ods of Ra­tion­al­ity dis­cus­sion thread, part 11

  Anyways, if the obvious answer is incorrect, we ought to figure out which Hogwarts staff-member has been going around casting memory charms. Now Dumbledore did specifically say “professor” and I doubt that he misspoke, so we can discount Hagrid, Pomffery, etc. So:

  1. Bathsheda Babbling, Ancient Runes. (Never mentioned in books, probably unkown to Eliezer)

  2. Charity Burbage, Muggle Studies.

  3. Filius Flitwick, Charms.

  4. Silvanus Kettleburn, Care of Magical creatures.

  5. Minerva McGonagall, Transfiguration. (Definitely innocent)

  6. Aurora Sinistra, Astronomy.

  7. Severus Snape, Potions.

  8. Pomona Sprout, Herbology.

  9. Sybill Trelawney, Divination.

  10. Septima Vector, Arithmancy.

  11. Albus Dumbledore.

  Now, there is one possibility I don’t think anyone has brought up yet. H&C could simply be the unwilling pawn anyone capable of using the Imperius, This explains how he/​she can have quite brilliant long-term plans, given to them by their puppet-master, but make a few simple mistakes when on their own (Like taking so long to crack Hermione).

  Now, we know that Hermione recognized and was very shocked by whomever she saw beneath H&C’s disguise, which suggests it was someone she actually knew rather than a professor she occasionally caught sight of at dinner. First years take Astronomy, Charms, Battle Magic, Herbology, History of Magic, Potions, and Transfiguration. We can safely eliminate Quirrell, Snape, Binns and McGonagall from being imperiused, leaving Flitwick, Sprout, and Sinistra.

• Joshua Hobbes 22 Feb 2012 23:38 UTC

  13 points

  on: [link] Faster than light neu­trinos due to loose fiber op­tic ca­ble.

  So, how much money is Eliezer winning from bets?

• Joshua Hobbes 18 Apr 2012 2:53 UTC

  12 points

  in reply to: FAWS’s comment on: Harry Pot­ter and the Meth­ods of Ra­tion­al­ity dis­cus­sion thread, part 16, chap­ter 85

  Eliezer seems to be taking a page from Alicorn’s book. In Luminosity Alice is plagued by differing visions as Bella constantly changes her mind about her future, and then the actual future snaps into place when a final choice is made.

• Joshua Hobbes 26 Mar 2012 4:50 UTC

  12 points

  on: Harry Pot­ter and the Meth­ods of Ra­tion­al­ity dis­cus­sion thread, part 12

  Whatever the hell happens, it has to end with a snap.

• Joshua Hobbes 19 Mar 2012 4:29 UTC

  12 points

  in reply to: loserthree’s comment on: Harry Pot­ter and the Meth­ods of Ra­tion­al­ity dis­cus­sion thread, part 11

  Snape actually murdering Dumbledore at some point is too MoR-ish of an event for Eliezer not to include.

• Joshua Hobbes 16 Mar 2012 19:29 UTC

  12 points

  in reply to: cultureulterior’s comment on: Harry Pot­ter and the Meth­ods of Ra­tion­al­ity dis­cus­sion thread, part 10

  As much as I’d love it, there’s no chance of a trial by combat. “If we did it your way, Kingslayer, you’d win. We’re not doing it your way.”