Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality

[sgrunterundt]

I stumpled upon this great fanfiction. The story about how it would have been if Harry Potter had been raised by a skeptic physics professor instead. It is fantastic. It seems to describe exactly how a scientist actually would react to being faced with the fabled extraordinary evidence. Fantastic introduction to what the scientific method is and how it works. I recommend it to creationists and rationalists alike.

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5782108/1/Harry_Potter_and_the_Methods_of_Rationality

I have only read a small part yet, but I love it allready.

 

[nasher168]

Dammit, why is it so hard for otherwise decent writers to make up their minds about which tense to write the story in.

...still, I found parts of it quite funny.

"Hm?" Harry said, his mind elsewhere. "Hold on, I'm doing a Fermi calculation."

 

[nasher168]

Sweet Jesus, I started reading thinking it would be a light-hearted little thing, but fucking hell it's deep in places.

It's not set in the Harry Potter universe. Not even slightly. There are names and places there that exist to help guide your thoughts and give you more backstory than if the author was explaining everything, but not a single one of the characters is anything like their characters in JK Rowling's series.
Maybe this is standard for fan-fiction... I wouldn't know, I've never read one.

 

[sgrunterundt]

Sweet Jesus, I started reading thinking it would be a light-hearted little thing, but fucking hell it's deep in places.

I was pretty surprised too. I like to think that Harrys reactions is pretty much how I'd react if I ever saw evidence for gods, magic or other "supernatural" stuff.

It's not set in the Harry Potter universe. Not even slightly. There are names and places there that exist to help guide your thoughts and give you more backstory than if the author was explaining everything, but not a single one of the characters is anything like their characters in JK Rowling's series.
Maybe this is standard for fan-fiction... I wouldn't know, I've never read one.

Yeah, I expected it would be more similar too. He has obviously been forced to change a few things to make the world more internally consistent, but I also think he has changed a few characters more than I would like. I wouldn't think that everyone is completely different, however. They are just described from a vastly different perspective.

 

[Inferno]

I never ever check this section... what a waste! If only I had known there were things like this thread... Oh, the love!