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Eliezer_Yudkowsky comments on Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality discussion thread, part 19, chapter 88-89 - Less Wrong
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It was meant to be a clever rejoinder by Brienne. I may need to rewrite if people are interpreting it this way.
I thought it was clever in a vaguely self-deprecating way. "I obviously have no way of knowing what that thing is, but I can be funny about it." This could probably be conveyed through tone - deadpan may be what you're looking for?
That is a good writing suggestion. I will take it. Thank you.
EDIT: This isn't working when I try it:
Makes it fall a bit flat for me compared to the original. Suggested rewrite? Or is it just me?
Sometimes I use "deadpan" as a verb. "Of course," the witch deadpanned. "I have a dozen of them. In my trunk." (I think splitting the sentence may help.)
I tried that one too. The problem I felt while reading it is that it... breaks up the humor? Like a THIS IS A JOKE sign?
Well, if people keep getting lost on the way to the joke, a sign might be useful.
If you do rewrite it, "said sensibly" might work better than "deadpanned".
Just you, I think. My inner wordiness-filter is complaining that you only really need "said, deadpan," but aside from that it reads better to me.
(This revision is meant more as a suggested direction than a suggested destination.)
I think you need to rewrite it; I still don't see how it is clever, rather than insulting. (If you're uncertain, I suggest private messaging a few random Redditors and asking them to summarize what they think that exchange meant.)
Wasn't my reaction.
(Above, we see a third reaction: that she's being sarcastic. Below, a fourth.)
Whoosh.
And since you have kindly self-selected to volunteer your reaction, you are no longer meaningfully informative about how people see it - hence my suggestion for messaging random Redditors.
EDIT: which, by the way Eliezer, also applies to the comment you left. Geez. All you're going to get is more self-selection like David_Gerard's, where people with unusual reactions volunteer their cleverness.
My initial reaction was one of surprise that Harry would even attempt to bring up ELIZA in a conversation with a non-muggleborn NPC. Even Hermione would probably take a second to access the relevant data item. He seems to be better at judging his audience than this.
If he wants to convey the chatterbot idea, he could use a relevant local example, like some talking magical item, or some magical creature known for mindlessly parroting human speech. Maybe Binn's ghost, or something.