maia comments on Rationalist fiction: a Slice of Life IN HELL - Less Wrong

7 Post author: Ritalin 25 March 2014 05:02PM

You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.

Comments (26)

You are viewing a single comment's thread.

Comment author: maia 26 March 2014 12:42:00AM 1 point [-]

Ehh... As the other commenters are saying, it's unclear how it would promote rationality, or what its Ultimate Effect would be...

But I think you should do it anyway. I'd read it.

Comment author: Ritalin 26 March 2014 02:34:02AM *  0 points [-]

The challenge is that rationalists should win, no matter what kind of environment they're thrown in. One that's out to screw them is only a middling challenge. Eventually, I'd like to tackle "how to be as rational/effective as possible in an actively irrational environmnent, such as the setting of The Sandman".

Comment author: Lumifer 26 March 2014 03:17:45PM 1 point [-]

The challenge is that rationalists should win, no matter what kind of environment they're thrown in.

Challenge to whom? To the omnipotent author? Doesn't look much like a challenge (see the "omnipotent" bit). To the rationalists? It seems pretty obvious to me that there are environments where no winning is possible.

Comment author: Ritalin 26 March 2014 03:20:58PM -1 points [-]

Establishing that winning is impossible is already a win of sorts. And writers are hardly omnipotent; we are governed by the stringent rules of Good Writing. An author who abuses their power willy-nilly only creates an unpersuasive mess that immerses and captivates absolutely no-one, and can hardly be said to be fiction at all.

Comment author: Lumifer 26 March 2014 04:26:03PM 1 point [-]

we are governed by the stringent rules of Good Writing

Only if you choose to be so :-)

Comment author: Ritalin 26 March 2014 05:46:05PM 0 points [-]

It's not just choice; you have to learn them and interiorize them and they're subjective. Grant Morrison and Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman can write incredibly confusing, irrational, impossible stories that nevertheless are plausible and gripping and immersive. This took them decades of experience. Your beginner fanfic writer, no matter how well-intentioned and studious, will fail on some fundamental level. Check out EY's earliest fiction out there; it's pretty damn terrible.

Comment author: Bound_up 02 October 2015 07:15:18AM 0 points [-]

Where does one find this terrible early fiction?