I elsewhere linked Luminosity, a retelling of Twilight et al., and was encouraged to make a quick post mentioning a few examples of rationalist fiction.
So here's that.
Rationlist fiction is not terribly easy to explain, because rationalism is a word with many meanings and also one that sets people off. What I tend to mean by rationalist fiction is stories in which there are no so-called idiot balls, or if there are, they're explainable, understandable, and can fool the reader too. Read this. Note that this does not preclude characters from making emotionally-charged but non-optimal decisions, because that's not what rationalism is. Real, rational people get carried away by their emotions. There's a great writeup on that somewhere on LessWrong but I can't find it, sorry.
Anyway. I'm by no means an expert but I've read some stuff and here is that stuff.
HPMoR. Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality by Eliezer Yudkowsky. Strictly speaking, it's fanfiction set in JK Rowling's universe, which tends to turn people off. HPMoR is an explicit attempt to teach LessWrong's version of rationalism in a familiar context (which requires twisting the plot of actual Harry Potter into almost unrecognizable oblivion). Premise: HPMoR Harry Potter is a) a child prodigy and b) raised by intelligent, kind people. At times clunky, often very funny and quite emotional. Good fiction on its own merit but the ethical/scientific/rational ideas aren't just shoehorned. [Should be finished by ~February.]
Ra. Serialized science fiction, and so well-written that it gives me hope for the whole genre. Intelligent antagonists, moral gray areas, lots of layers. Not overtly rational, like HPMoR; it fits the looser definition in that all the characters make intelligent or nearly intelligent decisions which fuel the plot. [Nearly finished.]
Luminosity. Retelling of Twilight, linked above. Same deal; characters are more intelligent, thus the plot is more interesting. Not nearly as heavy on rationalism etc as HPMoR, much more so than Ra. (Example: one primary point of departure is that Bella is in favor of everyone becoming vampires for the simple reason that death is bad and vampires are immortal. It's more complicated than that but the viewpoints of the author/genre certainly enter the story.) [Entirely complete.]
The Metropolitan Man. Retelling of Superman's origin story (or something -- not a comics guy) but with gray morals which make everything infinitely more interesting than the shitty Superman movie I watched a few years ago. [Complete; quite short compared to everything else on this list.]
Worm. Incredibly long serialized original fiction about superheroes, but not pie-in-the-sky everything is great superheroes. More like a Watchmen situation where superheroes are just something people live with and sometimes that kinda sucks. I'm still slowly working my way through Worm and only list it because it's mentioned in the same breath as HPMoR and Luminosity all over the internet. [It's 1.75 million words and I have no idea if it's finished. I think it is. So, kleinbl00, if you only have time for one of these, it's not going to be Worm because then you'd only have time for a fourth of it. Not that the others are much shorter.]
Went through a period where I obsessively searched for great Harry Potter fanfiction, actually. Trawled through thousands, found maybe six worth reading, one of which was HPMoR. Quickly realized it was unlike anything I had ever read, fanfiction or fiction, and dove into Yudkowsky's Sequences -- still descending -- and some stuff that gets linked on r/hpmor fairly often, like Worm.
Holy shit is ESY trying to make Harry a huge unlikeable asshole? 11 year olds dont act like this:Pointoutthatyouhavearighttoknow: Failure. Eleven-year-oldchildrendo
nothaverightstoknowanything,inMcGonagall’seyes.
Say that you will not be friends any more: Failure. She does not value your
friendshipsufficiently.
Point out that you will be in danger if you do not know: Failure. Plans have
already been made based on your ignorance. The
certain
inconvenience of re-
thinkingwillseemfarmoreunpalatablethanthemere
uncertain
prospectofyour
comingtoharm.
Justice and reason will both fail. You must either find something you have
thatshewants,orfindsomethingyoucandowhichshefears...
Ah.
“Well then, Professor,” Harry said in a low, icy tone, “it sounds like
I have something you want. You can, if you like, tell me the truth, the
whole
truth, and in return I will keep your secrets. Or you can try to keep
me ignorant so you can use me as a pawn, in which case I will owe you
nothing.”
McGonagall stopped short in the street. Her eyes blazed and her voice
descended into an outright hiss. “How dare you!”
“
Howdareyou!
” he whispered back at her.
“You would
blackmail
me?”
Harry’s lips twisted. “I am
offering
you a
favor.
I am
giving
you a chance
to protect
your
precious secret. If you refuse I will have
every
natural mo-
tive to make inquiries elsewhere, not to spite you, but because I
have to
know!
Get past your pointless anger at a
child
who you think ought to obey
you, and you’ll realise that any sane adult would do the same!
Look at it
frommyperspective! HowwouldyoufeelifitwasYOU?
”
Harry watched McGonagall, observed her harsh breathing. It oc-
curred to him that it was time to ease off the pressure, let her simmer
for a while. “You don’t have to decide right away,” Harry said in a more
normal tone. “I’ll understand if you want time to think about my
offer
...
but I’ll warn you of one thing,” Harry said, his voice going colder. “Don’t
try that Obliviation spell on me. Some time ago I worked out a signal,
and I have already sent that signal to myself. If I find that signal and I
don’t
remember
sending it...” Harry let his voice trail off significantly.
One of the primary "problems" of HPMOR is that ... is that ... spoilers. Dammit. Well. Keep reading if you want. According to Yudkowsky, the first ten chapters are often considered the weakest, but if the story doesn't grab you after that, don't bother. I will say that I have met many exceptionally intelligent, slightly robotic 11 year olds who lacked a formula to fall back on in social situations, and, yes, they did act kind of like that. The author was one of those kids. He's writing partially from experience. If you only read fiction in which you like the protagonist, it is quite possible you won't want to read HPMOR.
Fair warning, I talk about this point a lot. There's a subreddit and I think it's the only non-sports reddit I check daily. I'm committed. I think, first of all, that it's valid to say the story is his mouthpiece, but not to use that as a criticism. His stated purpose in writing the story (and the one that allows him to use work time to write it) is spreading his ideas far and wide on the internet. If the medium didn't allow the story to be his platform, the story wouldn't exist. The man's a genius; HPMoR is his first full-length writing of any sort and it's already the most popular piece of fanfiction ever written in terms of reviews and favorites and word of mouth. So it worked. And thousands of people don't see that as detracting from the story, which is my second point. Even if you don't dig the extended sections where, say, Harry is attempting to teach Draco that the antagonists' concept of "blood superiority" is irrational by using entry-level genetics (and it's working, because in HPMoR all the primary characters are actually intelligent, but also not working because Draco is the equivalent of an 1830s plantation owner's son) -- even if you aren't into those bits, the common complaint from everyone who is is that in the last 30 chapters we've gotten nothing but plot. Yudkowsky's storyline eventually forced him to leave the mouthpiece at home to a large extent. And everyone's still reading. Because it's a damn good story even if you disagree with every single tenet of LessWrong rationalism, or don't want to hear the scientific method mentioned in the context of discovering why and how magic works in JK Rowling's universe. (But really, who doesn't? That stuff is far more interesting than the original series.) I'll cut myself off there because you almost certainly don't care about this as much as I do.One problem with it is that it at times it feels like very much like EY's mouthpiece.
I do care a little bit. I also used to frequent r/hpmor, but now I don't really have the time for it. And yeah, HPMoR is a clever way for him to spread his message. I think my criticism boils down to EY himself seeming a bit.. off. Based on a Google Hangout interview I saw he seems to be the kind of person who talks at people, not to them.
I interact with him on facebook and reddit a lot. Have read a lot of the Sequences, etc. Maybe I identify with him because of a similar background (I once read a small autobiography of his, written when he was quite young, that would definitely rub anyone the wrong way -- he's basically claiming that he was so much smarter than everyone else growing up, incl. his parents, that his childhood was irreparably fucked -- thing is, it's probably true) and I can to a lesser extent understand where he's coming from.^ Anyway, a lot of the hate for him stems from simple anti-intellectualism, some of it from anti-futurism, and some of it from, like you say, just a sort of feeling you get when talking to him. He's not arrogant exactly, but there isn't an ounce of false modesty. As a society, we've come to heavily weight our expectations of extraordinarily smart people toward humility and false modesty -- but in Yudkowsky's view, that's just a misrepresentation of the truth. ^my counterargument: if you're really that smart, you can read people like books and learn to get along with them. Not to do so is arrogance, laziness, or a sign of some slight mental imbalance.
Yeah, he means well and seems mostly honest but is probably hampered by some neuropsychiatrical disability. I think I traded a few words with him, but not many tbh. I had a bit of a difficult childhood too and have a hard time reading people, but I've stubbornly taught myself how to be better at it.
I listed them in the order I'd recommend reading, but take into account individual preferences. You scificlub people might be more into Ra, although I think HPMoR, if you give it time (first 5-10 chapters are commonly denigrated) is better -- but that may be because I grew up with the Harry Potter universe and enjoy it. Can't really go wrong anywhere. All but the Superman one are long as hell, though.