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LessWrong (Curated & Popular)

“Review: Planecrash” by L Rudolf L

Dec 28, 2024
Dive into a bizarre blend of fantasy and logic where math lectures sneak into a whimsical narrative. Discover characters navigating the chaotic realm of Dath-Elon, grappling with competence and decision theory. Explore philosophical musings on rationality that question conventional thinking and governance challenges. The intriguing dynamic between superintelligent beings and human emotions unfolds, leading to quirky tangents and deep reflections. It’s a wild journey that fuses intellectual rigor with storytelling.
39:20

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

  • The podcast discusses the unconventional narrative structure of Planecrash, which blends fiction with educational mathematical lectures and personal critiques.
  • It highlights the portrayal of exceptionally competent characters like Keltham, who embody rational principles and challenge traditional character tropes in fantasy writing.

Deep dives

Unique Narrative Structure

The work employs a distinctive narrative format, resembling a series of forum posts, which adds an unconventional flair to its storytelling. This structure is combined with extensive mathematical lectures and tangents that, while largely irrelevant to the plot, showcase the author's penchant for deep dives into specific topics like frequentist statistics. This blending of fiction with lecture-style exposition not only delivers educational content but also serves as a vehicle for the author’s personal opinions and critiques, particularly towards figures in the AI and rationalist communities. This self-indulgent storytelling approach allows the narrative to stray into complex philosophical discussions, which Yudkowsky uses as a means of commentary and satire within the science fiction genre.

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