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chaosmosis comments on Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality discussion thread, part 16, chapter 85 - Less Wrong
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I found a plot hole, but I've filled it in on my own rather well. It still poses potential problems though, as my solution might conflict with later details that will be revealed to us.
In canon, Voldemort learned how to make a Horcrux from library books. HPMOR added the Interdict of Merlin, which means that this couldn't have happened. The Interdict of Merlin means that Voldemort could only have learned how to make a Horcrux from a living person. At first, I thought that this broke the story. But then I found a solution.
The solution is that Voldemort must have broken into Nurmengard sometime before making his first Horcrux, where he would have extracted the information from the mind of the imprisoned Gellert Grindelwald. I think that should be possible, and it would actually fit very well from a thematic point of view as well.
However, there's the possibility that it would conflict with whatever backstory Eliezer has in mind for Quirrel's identity as the supposed last scion of an ancient house. Also, it limits the paths this story can take, because through my solution would give Voldemort knowledge about many of Dumbledore and Grindelwald's secrets, such as the existence of the Deathly Hollows, and it also makes Voldemort even more OP'd.
This comment exists so that we don't end up with a major, unfixable plot hole later on in the story.
I think it's pretty clear he got that information, along with many of his other dark secrets, from the Basalisk.
I see the evidence for that, but I also see Dumbledore implying otherwise in chapter 39:
I forgot about that part. That makes sense.
Pengvado's comment means that the plot hole still existed. But the Basalisk is a better fix than Grindelwald.
I am fairly sure that books can still contain information about spells and magic which is oblique or in the form of a riddle. The vast majority of wizards are insufficiently clever and dedicated to discover and then unravel the meanings of such riddles.
This is literally my favorite part of the HPMOR magic system - the fact that it is a magic system designed to reward Conscientiousness. There doesn't seem to be such a thing as "innate power levels" in HPMOR. If Voldemort and Dumbledore are strong, it is for the same reason that Hermione is strong; they are the most intelligent and diligent wizards of their generations.
Conversely, I think it would strain credulity to assume that Voldemort was, by chance, both a super-genius and the most powerful wizard. The simpler hypothesis is that one causes the other.
I like the Conscientiousness rewarding in the story too. I don't understand what it has to do with whether or not they get information from books though. There's a line somewhere in the text that almost literally says magic can only be passed from one living mind to another because of the Interdict of Merlin. So, unfortunately, reading doesn't seem to do much besides make you better at what you've already heard about from living teachers.
Riddles would be an interesting workaround, but nothing we've yet seen implies that works. And, there's not a relevant difference between simply reading something and solving a riddle - both use your mind, but apparently that isn't enough to get around the interdict of Merlin.