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linkhyrule5 comments on Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality discussion thread, February 2015, chapter 108 - Less Wrong Discussion

5 Post author: b_sen 20 February 2015 09:53PM

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Comment author: linkhyrule5 21 February 2015 04:02:49AM 1 point [-]

I sincerely hope that pattern doesn't stick.

The hourly countdown seems likely, though.

Comment author: gjm 21 February 2015 09:48:22AM 3 points [-]

If the pattern continues then it is impossible for the posting to end on "pi day", the 14th of March.

Comment author: Velorien 21 February 2015 08:27:04AM 3 points [-]

Further bonus trivia: 108 is the number of worldly sins according to Buddhism. Given that this is heavily referenced in anime and manga, which Eliezer enjoys, the fact that it's the chapter in which Voldemort's backstory is revealed is unlikely to be coincidental.

Comment author: Manfred 21 February 2015 08:44:30AM 8 points [-]

I think it is highly likely to be coincidental :P

Comment author: Velorien 21 February 2015 04:39:33PM 0 points [-]

Actually, he wouldn't be the first author to deliberately pace his work to achieve this effect. The Death Note manga, for example, is exactly 108 chapters long.

Comment author: Vaniver 21 February 2015 04:57:55PM 6 points [-]

Also, look at how short the previous chapters were. If he were stretching it out so that this one would be 108, this is what I would expect it to look like.

Comment author: Manfred 22 February 2015 04:06:12AM *  2 points [-]

That's really interesting and definitely helps your case. My main beef is that, opposite Vaniver, I think that there have been quite a few scenes that could be argued to be related to worldly sins to the same degree, and so this is not very different from what random chance would look like.

Comment author: Velorien 22 February 2015 11:07:35AM *  5 points [-]

On the other hand, HPMOR is filled to the brim with pop culture references including anime and manga, from the omakes to things like the Breaking Drill Hex, the Tragedy of Light, Fuyuki City, "a young Japanese" with self-replication powers, and part of Tracey's summoning incantation. This raises the priors for something that looks like another Japanese pop culture reference not being coincidental.

Comment author: polymathwannabe 21 February 2015 02:18:07PM *  6 points [-]

Aaaaand there were 107 horcruxes (meaning 107 murders) before he stopped keeping count.

Comment author: Kindly 23 February 2015 06:13:54PM 0 points [-]

A year and a half ago, I predicted on this basis that there would be 108 chapters total.

I was wrong, but another piece of evidence against coincidence is that the lower bound on horcruxes makes for the second instance of 107 in Eliezer's fiction. The first is here, as follows:

The wise fool gave the young genie exactly one hundred and seven precautions to follow while making people happy. The wise fool thought that, with such a long list as that, he was being very careful.

Comment author: Transfuturist 23 February 2015 12:29:08AM 0 points [-]

I happen to see 108 in a variety of things. I only hope the creators put something special in those places to justify my numerological tic.