Decius comments on Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality Bookshelves - Less Wrong

33 Post author: JesseGalef 18 March 2013 09:52PM

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Comment author: Decius 20 March 2013 08:58:33PM 1 point [-]

It's not a primer on how to influence people, it's a discussion of the philosophy behind influencing people. It's also something that a Slytherin would read for entertainment, in much the same way that a Gryfindor would read The Chronicles of Narnia.

Comment author: Eugine_Nier 21 March 2013 04:01:39AM 1 point [-]

The Screwtape Letters as their intended to be read strike me as more Hufflepuff, and the portrayal of hell is sufficiently negative that I don't see a Slytherin enjoying it by sympathizing with the demons.

Comment author: Decius 21 March 2013 05:05:50AM 1 point [-]

If you only read things as the author intended that they be read, you're missing a large fraction of the entertainment value.

I wonder where The Adventures of Tom Sawyer should be?

Comment author: Alejandro1 22 March 2013 03:51:36AM *  0 points [-]

I wonder where The Adventures of Tom Sawyer should be?

I say Gryffindor. Tom is obviously a Gryffindor, and though the tone of the book is somewhat mocking, he is nevertheless clearly the hero and triumphs in the end. (As far as I remember at least; I haven't read it since I was a child).

Yet Twain's ouvre spans all Houses: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is Hufflepuff, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is Ravenclaw, and The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg is Slytherin.