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{"id":4011,"date":"2012-07-30T11:12:06","date_gmt":"2012-07-30T15:12:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/?p=4011"},"modified":"2012-07-30T11:12:06","modified_gmt":"2012-07-30T15:12:06","slug":"which-voldemort-is-scariest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2012\/07\/which-voldemort-is-scariest.html","title":{"rendered":"Which Voldemort is Scariest?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

Unsurprisingly, I was rereading Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality<\/a> on the way back from Bayes Camp (specifically chapters 19 and 20). And, between that and the really bizarre and delightful Olympic opening ceremonies<\/a>, I ended up wondering whether Canon!Voldemort or HPMOR!Voldemort was scarier.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not the same question as which of them would win in a fight. It\u2019s clearly the HPMOR version. I was wondering which of them would be more terrifying to live in the same world with. When I read Yudkowsky\u2019s fic, the most frightening revelation about his Voldemort occurred at the end of chapter 20. (If you haven\u2019t read the fic, pop off and read up to there, if you have, I\u2019m referring to the thing Quirrelmort did that you probably used to pitch people on the fic).<\/p>\n

The revelation I\u2019m referring to (especially paired with the previous chapter) made it clear how terrifying intelligent and creative HPMOR!Voldemort was. Even though the Harry in the fic is fearsomely smart, a bit too ruthless for his own good, and has access to a lot more spheres of knowledge, I finished the chapter wondering how it could ever be possible for Harry to best his teacher.<\/p>\n

In contrast, the scariest thing about Canon!Voldemort isn\u2019t an act<\/em>, it\u2019s a line.<\/p>\n

\u201cKill the spare.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Canon!Voldemort\u2019s plans and ambitions are a lot more muddled than those of HPMOR!Voldemort. So if your primary goal was self-preservation, you could try to stay out of HPMOR!Voldemort\u2019s way or even be useful to his plans. But this wouldn\u2019t be enough to protect you from Canon!Voldemort, who doesn\u2019t have a clear enough want<\/em> to stay clear of.<\/p>\n

So, is this an endorsement of the crazy Dick Nixon strategy<\/a>? \u00a0Would HPMOR!Voldemort be more\u00a0frightening if he was more erratic? \u00a0Should he be envious<\/a><\/em>\u00a0of Canon!Voldemort\u2019s irrationality<\/a>? \u00a0Almost certainly not.<\/p>\n

HPMOR!Voldemort isn\u2019t optimizing for scariness. \u00a0After all, getting caught out in a freak storm is scary and you can\u2019t negotiate with the wind, but trying to be a derecho<\/em><\/a> instead of a Dark Lord seems like setting the bar a little low. \u00a0Canon!Voldemort could be playing his cards right, if he just wants painful death to be slightly harder to avoid, but this seems like a pretty boring goal.<\/p>\n

The most disappointing part of book seven (apart\u00a0from the sudden introduction of\u00a0three more quest objects<\/em>, when we\u2019d already had five dropped on us at the end of book six), was that Canon!Voldemort\u2019s terror tactics didn\u2019t seem to be in the service of anything very interesting. \u00a0The totalitarian Ministry of Magic seems much more aligned with Umbridge\u2019s petty evil than a once in a lifetime figure.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not convinced that HPMOR!Voldemort\u00a0wants<\/em>\u00a0to change the world, instead of just to protect himself from it\u2019s stupidity (it\u2019s possible he doesn\u2019t think it deserves his attention), but if he did, I\u2019d expect that the results would look a lot less like the endgame of every other\u00a0megalomaniac. \u00a0(This goes double for the very ambitious HPMOR!Harry).<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"