loserthree comments on Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality discussion thread, part 20, chapter 90 - Less Wrong

9 Post author: palladias 02 July 2013 02:13AM

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Comment author: loserthree 02 July 2013 03:27:32AM 2 points [-]

It'd been one of the spells he and Hermione had experimented on, a lifetime ago, so he was able to control it precisely, though it had taken a lot of power to affect that much mass. Hermione's body should now be at almost exactly five degrees Celsius.

I feel like this comes off as a bit of an ass pull. It's the suspicious specificity that does it, I think.

It would be easy to prevent that feeling, if you care to and if it's not just me, with a throwaway line in an earlier chapter.

Comment author: arundelo 02 July 2013 04:13:46AM 8 points [-]

I'd say mention in five previous chapters demonstrates that Harry is pretty comfortable with this spell. (I'm highly confident this was intentional on Eliezer's part.)

Comment author: BloodyShrimp 02 July 2013 06:02:06AM 20 points [-]

More specifically, in chapter 56:

Kill her and then bring her back, came the next suggestion. Use Frigideiro to cool Bellatrix down to the point where her brain activity stops, then warm her up afterward using Thermos, just like people who fall into very cold water can be successfully revived half-an-hour later without noticeable brain damage. Harry considered this. Bellatrix might not survive in her debilitated state. And it might not stop Death from seeing her. And he'd have trouble carrying a cold unconscious Bellatrix very far. And Harry couldn't remember the research on which exact body temperature was supposed to be nonfatal but temporarily-brain-halting.

He forgot to get his time-turner unlocked, but he remembered to look this up, evidently.

Comment author: linkhyrule5 02 July 2013 03:48:23AM 5 points [-]

Frigideiro was mentioned, though - when he tests his "dark side," his dark side isn't any more powerful with magic.

Comment author: loserthree 02 July 2013 03:58:25AM 1 point [-]

Frigideiro was mentioned, though - when he tests his "dark side," his dark side isn't any more powerful with magic.

Yeah, but not precision. That's why it's just feel like a bit of an ass pull -- a "butt snag"? -- and why is the way it's so specific is kind of what sets the alarm off for me.

Comment author: Alsadius 02 July 2013 04:16:19AM 4 points [-]

A cryonics fanboy writing a story about a cryonics fanboy with access to a spell that can freeze a corpse? Specificity is to be expected.

Comment author: CAE_Jones 02 July 2013 04:31:25AM 6 points [-]

I don't feel like HJPEV comes across as much of a cryonics fanboy compared to EY. He always has to think for at least a few seconds to think about cooling a corpse--and it's cooling rather than full-blown suspension. He's obviously aware that cooling is a helpful way to avert the risk of permadeath, but he doesn't seem like he's precommitted to signing up for cryonics as soon as he can legally do so. Which, knowing this Harry, probably means he hasn't heard much about it.

Comment author: Alsadius 02 July 2013 05:11:30AM 1 point [-]

Granted, he's a candle next to a fire, and it was a very new thing in 1992. But remembering the best temperature is the sort of thing he'd do, even having only heard it once.

Comment author: MarkusRamikin 02 July 2013 09:29:54AM *  13 points [-]

I wonder if Eliezer is just being cautious, trying to steer the story away from anything that people would dismiss as blatant cryonics propaganda, and instead just plant enough of a hint to get the normals reading HPMoR, how should I say it, emotionally interested in the idea that a freshly dead person might be preserved, and revived later when we know more.

Comment author: Alsadius 02 July 2013 05:44:01PM *  3 points [-]

I'd believe it. I don't think he's going to go propagandist, I just think that "Someone I love is dead, better freeze them just in case it can be fixed" is a natural thought path for EY. It's possibly not even a conscious propaganda attempt, that's just how smart and thoughtful people are supposed to act.

(IRL, I think it's a bit different because of the cost involved. But these spells are basically free, so why not try?)

Comment author: htns 04 July 2013 11:20:51PM 0 points [-]

There's also that Harry shouldn't freeze, he should transmute (as was suggested somewhere above) (or perhaps he should freeze and then transmute). Freezing is rather disastrous if it gets warm again. Even if the transmutation goes off it's relatively fine as long as he arranges it so that the transmutation can be redone quickly.

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