This is Part 2 of the discussion of Alicorn's Twilight fanfic Luminosity.
LATE BREAKING EDIT: Part 3 exists now, so new comment threads should be started there rather than here.
In the vein of the Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality discussion threads this is the place to discuss anything relating to Alicorn's Twilight fanfic Luminosity. The fanfic is also archived on Alicorn's own website.
Here is Part 1 of the discussion. Previous discussion is hidden so deeply within the first Methods of Rationality thread that it's difficult to find even if you already know it exists.
Similar to how Eliezer's fanfic popularizes material from his sequences Alicorn is using the insights from her Luminosity sequence.
The fic is really really good but there is a twist part way through that makes the fic even more worth reading than it already was, but that makes it hard to talk about because to even ask if someone is twist-aware with any specific hints is difficult. The twist is in the latter half of the story. If you are certainly not post-twist and want to save the surprise, then you should stop reading here and fall back to Part 1 discussion or to the fic itself.
If you think you're pretty sure you are post-twist and are safe to read the rest of this, try reading this rot13'ed hint and see if what you've read matches this high level description of the twist...
Rqjneq unf qvfpbirerq gur frperg gung Vfnoryyn jnf xrrcvat sebz uvz "sbe uvf bja tbbq" bhg bs srne bs Neb ernqvat Rqjneq'f zvaq. Va gur nsgrezngu, fbzrguvat unf punatrq nobhg gurve eryngvbafuvc gung znl unir pnhfrq lbh gb pel sbe n juvyr, naq juvpu znlor urycf gb rzbgvbanyyl qevir ubzr gur pbzovarq zrffntr bs YJ'f negvpyrf nobhg "fbzrguvat gb cebgrpg" naq "ernfba nf n zrzrgvp vzzhar qvfbeqre" naq gur jnl gurl pna fvzhygnarbhfyl nccyl gb crbcyr jub unir abguvat zber va gur jbeyq guna fbzr fvatyr crefba jub gurl ybir.
If the answer to the hint is obvious, then just to be sure that there is not a double illusion of transparency at work, here is the cutoff point spelled out explicitly:
Gur phgbss cbvag sbe cbfgvat urer vf gung lbh unir ernq hc gb puncgre svsgl svir (va gur snasvpgvba irefvba) be puncgre gjragl rvtug ba Nyvpbea'f jrofvgr jurer Rqjneq jnf cebonoyl vapvarengrq, Vfnoryyn fheivirf na nggrzcgrq vapvarengvba, naq fur unf gb ortha gb jbex bhg jung gb qb jvgu gur jerpxntr bs gur erfg bs ure "rgreany" yvsr.
You know, this model of reality is really not true-- but before you cut me off as one of the great majority that does as it's taught, I'd like to point out that I disagree for reasons unlike those that you probably encounter most of the time. I don't think that reality is better than what you claim, and I'm not going to say that you're nuts. Unfortunately, I think that reality is worse than what you just said. Please take the time to read my post and hear me out, because I feel that this is important.
There is no conspiracy. There is no system, or at least not one that we can control. There is no one group that controls all world events. It's just people all the way down. And people are irrational, weak-minded, hypocritical, obsessed with status, and prone to making the same mistakes over and over again.
Conspiracy theories are actually optimistic, not pessimistic. If your model of the world were true, it would be easier to solve the world's problems than it actually is. All we would need to do is take out the guys at the top-- the corrupt corporate dictators who control the law, the industry, and the world economy-- and either tear down the system or take the helm and steer it towards good. In short, if we just eliminated or deposed those who act to enforce scarcity, a golden age of technological abundance would be ours to take.
But this will never happen. You mentioned a potential "opportunity to destroy an organization that kills hundreds of thousands of people," but no such opportunity will ever arise, because there is no such organization, or if there is it is not unique and a new one will rise in its place. Indeed, hundreds of thousands of people die every day, and not because the evil overlords demand that this must be so, but because mankind is far from the conditions of natural adaptation. We are not optimized to live in modern society-- indeed, many elements of modern society run counter to everything that our bodies and minds were designed for-- and the vast, vast majority of people aren't even aware of this. People trust their intuitions, rely on their instincts, cling to that which has been passed down from their ancestors-- and much of the information derived from these methods is wrong, and has been wrong for years and years, and leads only to ruin.
That being said, that doesn't mean that we have to stay that way. You've found your way to this site, which is the first step. Stay here, read the sequences, practice he art of human rationality as best you are able-- in time, you will be able to see that which most have missed. You will be able to correct their errors. Indeed, you will be able to guide others to the path, and help them become capable of correcting their own errors. After all, thousands of years of history show that, when left to our own devices, we merely repeat our same mistakes, but on grander scales-- it is only by raising the "sanity waterline" of mankind as a whole that we can hope to see people truly change.
It's a frightening world out there, and not one that we'll be able to redeem by one noble sacrifice. Indeed, the struggle to create a sane society will be one of the hardest if not the hardest thing that man has ever done. But I staunchly believe that we're up to the task. After all, I know of no other time in human history that a community like this has existed-- a community designed to advance the art of human rationality and conquer the petty insanities that have doomed so many over the years, and a community that is organized using modern methods and draws from the principles of science and rationality to target those insanities precisely. As a result, this community is uniquely poised to strike out against insanity, against war, against death itself, and yes-- against "the system." For every system is composed of people, and if the people that make up that system come to understand that there is a better way, it will prove unable to hold itself up.
Yes, we are living in interesting times here (as the old curse goes), and participating in an exciting and indeed critical task-- the most important task ever confronted by mankind. I hope that you'll join us and come to be a part of it.
Related short story.