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NancyLebovitz comments on Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality discussion thread, March 2015, chapter 118 - Less Wrong Discussion

2 Post author: Gondolinian 09 March 2015 07:05PM

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Comment author: NancyLebovitz 10 March 2015 12:20:39AM 3 points [-]

I like this chapter quite a bit. I believe that, while consciousness is an important part of oneself, one's legacy also matters, and in this case, the good work Quirrell did is part of him.

Comment author: Velorien 10 March 2015 03:36:19PM 1 point [-]

A part surely overwhelmed by the legacy he left behind as Voldemort, which includes lots of orphans and lots of people whose own positive legacies he cut short by killing them.

If you're going to count legacy as part of one's self, then anyone who kills people for any reason is going to end up in the karmic negative very very quickly, because they are taking away other people's legacies, and their potential children's, and their potential children's, etc.

Comment author: Jiro 10 March 2015 07:08:36PM *  1 point [-]

The absence of those future people in the world means more resources for other future people. If the population is at equilibrium, the effect on getting rid of the legacies of the people you killed is exactly balanced out by the increase in the legacies of other people who now have the resources to exist and are using them instead.

(If the population is growing, or if the population is in a steady state that is not an equilibrium because when it is pushed to one side it stays that way, then killing someone can take away legacies as you suggest. But you can't then conclude that this is bad unless you also want to accept that it is good to add people, which leads you to the repugnant conclusion.)