HPMoR and the Limits of Rationality

Ep. 3: Stand By Me

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 09:00:00 -0700

In chapter 3, Harry learns about Death Eaters, and the hosts rescue jokes from a burning podcast.

CONTENT WARNING: discussion of real life violence and sexual violence from 40:15-51:46. Continuing discussion of graphic fictional violence from 51:46 onward.

Citations and further reading:

Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, chapter 3: https://hpmor.com/chapter/3
“The Cassandra Claire Plagiarism Debacle – Part XII,” Avocado/white_serpent. Fandom Wank, 6 August 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20130702155034/http://www.journalfen.net/community/bad_penny/10481.html
STRANGE ÆONS. https://www.youtube.com/@STRANGEONS/search?query=harry%20potter
.”Kitty Genovese.” History.com, 27 February 2025. https://www.history.com/articles/kitty-genovese
“37 Who Saw Murder Didn't Call the Police; Apathy at Stabbing of Queens Woman Shocks Inspector,” Martin Gansberg. The New York Times, 27 March 1964. https://www.nytimes.com/1964/03/27/archives/37-who-saw-murder-didnt-call-the-police-apathy-at-stabbing-of.html
“Winston Moseley, Who Killed Kitty Genovese, Dies in Prison at 81,” Robert D. McFadden. The New York Times, 4 April 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20180909012517/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/05/nyregion/winston-moseley-81-killer-of-kitty-genovese-dies-in-prison.html
“A Call for Help,” Nicholas Lemann. The New Yorker, 2 March 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20250607020600/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/03/10/a-call-for-help?currentPage=all
Influence, Robert B. Cialdini. HarperCollins, 2007. https://dn710600.ca.archive.org/0/items/ThePsychologyOfPersuasion/The%20Psychology%20of%20Persuasion.pdf
“Feeling Rational,” Eliezer Yudkowsky. LessWrong, 25 April 2007. https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/SqF8cHjJv43mvJJzx/feeling-rational
“Twelve Virtues of Rationality,” Eliezer Yudkowsky. LessWrong, 1 January 2006. https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/7ZqGiPHTpiDMwqMN2/twelve-virtues-of-rationality

Ep. 2: Wingardium Leviscrewyou

Tue, 31 Mar 2026 09:00:00 -0700

In chapter 2, a woman turns into a cat. Anthea and Regina discuss the pros and cons of reasoning from first principles, the collision of the profound and the mundane, and a cool Bavarian.

Citations and further reading

Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, chapter 2: https://hpmor.com/chapter/2
HPMoR and Science: https://hpmor.com/science/
“Rationality Quotes 1,” Eliezer Yudkowsky. LessWrong. 15 January 2008. https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/LiDk2XMBFmRiju4x3/rationality-quotes-1
“Interstitial Comments on Dawkins,” Mencius Moldbug. Unqualified Reservations.11 October 2007. https://www.unqualified-reservations.org/2007/10/interstitial-comments-on-dawkins/
“The Anti-Reactionary FAQ,” Scott Alexander. Slate Star Codex. 20 October 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131126130345/http://slatestarcodex.com/2013/10/20/the-anti-reactionary-faq
“Geeks for Monarchy: The Rise of the Neoreactionaries,” Klint Finley. TechCrunch, 22 November 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131124080402/https://techcrunch.com/2013/11/22/geeks-for-monarchy/
“Mr. Jones Is Rather Concerned,” Mencius Moldbut. Unqualified Reservation. 28 November 2013. https://www.unqualified-reservations.org/2013/11/mr-jones-is-rather-concerned/
“Symmetry for Dummies: Noether’s Theorem,” Will Sweatman. Hackaday.com. 14 June 2016. https://hackaday.com/2016/06/14/symmetry-for-dummies-noethers-theorem/
“E. Noether's Discovery of the Deep Connection Between Symmetries and Conservation Laws,” Nina Byers. 23 September 1998. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.physics/9807044
“ELI5 What are Hamiltonian and Langrarian Mechanics? What do they concern?” answer by u/CreatureOfPrometheus. 4 May 2019. https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/bkka3z/comment/emhm30p/
“Unitarity,” Wikipedia. Accessed 29 March 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitarity
“My Childhood Death Spiral,” Eliezer Yudkowsky. LessWrong. 14 September 2008. https://www.lesswrong.com/s/SXurf2mWFw8LX2mkG/p/uD9TDHPwQ5hx4CgaX
“How Peter Thiel’s Relationship With Eliezer Yudkowsky Launched the AI Revolution,” Keach Hagey. Wired. 20 May 2025. https://web.archive.org/web/20260204143917/https://www.wired.com/story/book-excerpt-the-optimist-open-ai-sam-altman/
“The Pleasure of Finding Things Out,” from The Pleasure of Finding Things Out, Richard Feynman. Original interview 1981, collected in 1999.

Ep. 1: A Podcast of Very Low Probability

Tue, 10 Mar 2026 09:00:00 -0700

Anthea introduces Jake and Elisa to the world of Rationality, Eliezer Yudkowsky, and HPMoR. A surprising level of empathy for Petunia Evans emerges.

Citations and further reading

Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, chapter 1: https://hpmor.com/chapter/1
Neoreaction a Basilisk, Elizabeth Sandifer: https://bookshop.org/p/books/neoreaction-a-basilisk-essays-on-and-around-the-alt-right/850f22fb82ae27c6
The Zizians series, Behind the Bastards. 12-21 March 2025.
Curtis Yarvin, Behind the Bastards. 17-19 September 2024.
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYrPNvVhKLU
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpEg4LS3CT0
Peter Thiel and Yudkowsky’s history is discussed in “No Death, No Taxes,” George Packer. The New Yorker, 20 November 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20140801231953/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/11/28/no-death-no-taxes
Curtis Yarvin, Neoreaction, Yudkowsky, and Roko’s Basilisk are discussed in “The Strange and Terrifying Ideas of Neoreactionaries,” Nathan J. Robinson and Elizabeth Sandifer. Current Affairs, 30 May 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20251111012737/https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/2022/05/the-strange-and-terrifying-ideas-of-neoreactionaries
“Why is Mencius Moldbug so popular on LessWrong?” https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/6qPextf9KyWLFJ53j/why-is-mencius-moldbug-so-popular-on-less-wrong-answer-he-s
Feynman Lectures on Physics Volumes 1,2,3. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4tHb1egFTm4Rlc3OEFrVmNGQUk/view?resourcekey=0-O8AOzf-ZN7FBDUoHR1WJrQ
Discussion of the cultic milieu: https://web.archive.org/web/20250424005912/https://www.vectorsconference.com/culticmilieu_eng
“The Harry Potter Fan Fiction Author Who Wants to Make Everyone a Little More Rational,” David Whelan. Vice, 2 March 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20201108113155/https://www.vice.com/en/article/gq84xy/theres-something-weird-happening-in-the-world-of-harry-potter-168
“'Harry Potter' and the Key to Immortality,” Daniel D. Snyder. The Atlantic, 18 July 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110725060304/http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/07/harry-potter-and-the-key-to-immortality/241972/