Update: Discussion has moved on to a new thread.
The hiatus is over with today's publication of chapter 73, and the previous thread is approaching the 500-comment threshold, so let's start a new Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality discussion thread. This is the place to discuss Eliezer Yudkowsky's Harry Potter fanfic and anything related to it.
The first 5 discussion threads are on the main page under the harry_potter tag. Threads 6 and on (including this one) are in the discussion section using its separate tag system. Also: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. The fanfiction.net author page is the central location for information about updates and links to HPMOR-related goodies, and AdeleneDawner has kept an archive of Author's Notes.
As a reminder, it's often useful to start your comment by indicating which chapter you are commenting on.
Spoiler Warning: this thread is full of spoilers. With few exceptions, spoilers for MOR and canon are fair game to post, without warning or rot13. More specifically:
You do not need to rot13 anything about HP:MoR or the original Harry Potter series unless you are posting insider information from Eliezer Yudkowsky which is not supposed to be publicly available (which includes public statements by Eliezer that have been retracted).
If there is evidence for X in MOR and/or canon then it's fine to post about X without rot13, even if you also have heard privately from Eliezer that X is true. But you should not post that "Eliezer said X is true" unless you use rot13.
This isn't a much simple/weaker claim than other possible meanings for "I just have trouble believing".
Their underlying other utility functions would be contagious. For example, if my utility function requires them, then someone of whom it is accurate to say that "His utility function does not speak about things that require them" would't be able to include in his utility function my desires, or desires of those who cared about my desires, or desires of people who cared about the desires of people who cared about my desires, and so forth.
Eliezer cares about some people, some people care about me, and the rest is six degrees of Kevin Bacon.
The most extreme similar interpretation would have to be a statement about human utility functions in general.
I don't know what it means to care about the existence of the smallest uncountable ordinal (as opposed to caring that this existence can be proved in ZF, or cannot be refuted in second-order arithmetic, or something like that). Can we taboo "smallest uncountable ordinal" here?