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monsterzero comments on Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality discussion thread, part 22, chapter 93 - Less Wrong Discussion

5 [deleted] 06 July 2013 03:02AM

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Comment author: monsterzero 06 July 2013 03:22:37AM 3 points [-]

...for all I know, the teachers at your school are giving everyone lessons in advanced necromancy every Monday.

If only.

I can't wait to see Hermione resurrected as the first p-zombie.

Comment author: solipsist 06 July 2013 03:26:33AM *  29 points [-]

I can't wait to see Hermione resurrected as the first p-zombie.

How would we ever find out she was a Philosophical Zombie?

Read a chapter explicitly labeled as Hermione's POV, and have the chapter be blank?

Comment author: Alejandro1 06 July 2013 03:32:54AM 11 points [-]

Maybe using Leglimency would give a blank answer? Assuming consciousness is non-physical, magic might be able to detect its absence directly even if physical behavior is unchanged.

Comment author: solipsist 06 July 2013 03:41:18AM 3 points [-]

That's true. If wizards have souls, and their minds are not caused by brains, absence of consciousness could be detectable. The sorting hat might think her head is a rock.

But then she wouldn't quite be a Philosophical Zombie.

Comment author: elharo 06 July 2013 11:04:19AM 5 points [-]

Now there's a hypothesis: the difference between wizards and muggles is that wizards have minds while muggles merely have brains. Or wizards are not p-zombies and muggles are. I don't think that's where this story is going, but it might make an interesting premise for a different story.

Comment author: TobyBartels 09 July 2013 05:15:09AM 2 points [-]

So Muggles are like the inzcverf in Blindsight? That kind of fits, particularly from Quirrell's point of view.

Comment author: JoshuaZ 09 July 2013 05:24:40AM 0 points [-]

That kind of fits, particularly from Quirrell's point of view.

Seems more like the view of Lucius etc. We've seen very little of what Quirrel thinks about Muggles aside from his extreme distaste of nuclear weapons.

Comment author: TobyBartels 10 July 2013 06:45:25PM 1 point [-]

I used Quirrell instead of Lucius since I don't think that Lucius actually perceives Muggles as a threat. But as far as perceiving them as a different species, it is more a Death-Eaters' view.

Comment author: monsterzero 06 July 2013 04:10:09AM 9 points [-]

Given your username, isn't everyone else a Philosophical Zombie?

Comment author: jaibot 06 July 2013 04:24:21AM 16 points [-]

Everyone is aware of Eliezer's P-Zombie Apocalypse film script, right? http://lesswrong.com/lw/pn/zombies_the_movie/

Comment author: solipsist 06 July 2013 04:36:20AM 4 points [-]

That was awesome.