Alternate, simpler explanation: people think the situation is sad because the situation is sad.
The situation is sad, but I was expecting people to think about causality. It looks like they may just be associating emotions with salient features.
If this is what happens, the Dark Arts potential for exploiting this are enormous.
Focusing on the parts that will make the situation happy will make people realize the things about immortality that are great. Celestia never visualizes the bright and glorious future that Twilight will usher in, and how Twilight will get to experience it when she might not.
Yes; but if Celestia did visualize that, she'd trust and follow the equations.
So, a writer has to write for two completely different audiences. One understands the story and thinks about it causally. One audience understands it only on the level of "immortal is sad, immortality bad".
(Which is larger: The difference in intelligence between these two groups, or between the second group and dogs?)
Off topic: I just realized that you wrote Big Mac Reads Something Purple, which is one of my favorite MLP fanfics.
Thanks! Maybe someday I will rework it and resubmit it to EqD. They didn't like it.
The situation is sad, but I was expecting people to think about causality. It looks like they may just be associating emotions with salient features.
If this is what happens, the Dark Arts potential for exploiting this are enormous.
Well, the authorial possibilities are certainly enormous. "The Sword of Good" runs on this, for example.
My Little Pony (generation 4) has 2 immortal characters, who get a lot of sympathy from the bronies. "How sad! Poor Celestia and Luna must see everyone they know grow old and die. How much better to die yourself!"
I tried to write a fanfic saying that death was bad. But I had to make it a story, and it ended up having other themes. I don't know whether I like it or not, but it was very popular (now approaching 7000 views in 3 days on fimfiction).
I was pretty sure the message "death is bad" was still in there, because Celestia says things like "Death is bad" and "I'm afraid of dying." So imagine my surprise when comment after comment said, "Yes, immortality is such a curse!"
Why did so many people come away saying that? Tell me what you think. It will help to know that Twilight regularly writes "friendship report" letters to Celestia describing what she has learned about friendship, and that Twilight and Celestia have an especially close relationship.
Please leave comments on the google doc or here on LessWrong, not on fimfiction or Equestria Daily. Please don't down-vote the story if you aren't familiar with the characters or aren't calibrated to fimfiction voting.
Mortality Report on google docs (comment-enabled), 4000 words.
Spoilers after the bar.
I can see two things that happened: