Eugine_Nier comments on Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality discussion thread, part 19, chapter 88-89 - Less Wrong

12 Post author: Vaniver 30 June 2013 01:22AM

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Comment author: Eugine_Nier 02 July 2013 01:40:37AM 5 points [-]

werewolves do not regenerate or Moody would be a werewolf.

Don't werewolves have the "go psychopath once a month" problem?

Comment author: gwern 02 July 2013 02:29:40AM 4 points [-]

Nothing to do with psychopaths, but regardless: it is predictable, medically treatable in canon, and also easily neutralized by ordinary mechanisms of confinement. If that were a method of immortality, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

Comment author: NancyLebovitz 02 July 2013 02:44:24PM 3 points [-]

If you ran the numbers, would regeneration from injury at the cost of losing human thought for three days a month* actually be worth it for most people? So far as I know, being a werewolf doesn't help with aging. I'm not sure if there's a default for whether it helps with illness.

*more or less. I think that some versions only become wolves at night.

Comment author: gwern 02 July 2013 03:22:23PM *  2 points [-]

I did say it'd be a complete no-brainer for immortality, but if we rule that out...

In HP it's just one night, IIRC (discussed in Azkaban). Regeneration from injury is probably not worth sacrificing 1/60th of a life (month has 30 days, you lose a night from a day, hence 1/60), but it is probably worth chugging the wolfsbane potion depending on costs. If being a werewolf fended against generic disease, not just injury, then it'd resume being a complete nobrainer.

Comment author: Eugine_Nier 03 July 2013 03:29:20AM *  2 points [-]

What Nancy said. Also given Moody's paranoia, being dependent on something so easy to sabotage for one day a month is a huge downside.