[HPforGrownups] Figuring out the WW (was Four More Ways to Predict)

[Tim Regan (Intl Vendor)]

No: HPFGUIDX 96769

Hi All,

 

<Jim>We love making predictions about what's to come in the (sadly)
shrinking future of the HP series. I do. A lot of us comb canon looking
for clues in the text that point to the future, and that's one of the
ways to do it, but I think there's others that don't get used as often
that can lead to interesting predictions</Jim>

 

6 ways to predict:

 

1) <Jim>Comb canon</Jim>

 

2) <Jim>What would Harry do?</Jim>

 

3) <Jim>Harry as history</Jim>

 

4) <Jim>If this was my problem, how would I solve it?</Jim>

 

5) <Jim>Parallel literature</Jim>

 

6) <Steve>Logical expansions of the wizard world</Steve>

 

I'd like to add another, though I'm not sure how to snappily
characterize it. But it's really another way to "comb canon". Back in
post 81904

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/81904

Amy inducted me into the League of Obsessive Nitpickers (LOON). I think
that rigorous abstractions from the intention of the text may reveal
interesting predictions. For example, the word "beetle" is not used at
all in PS/SS, CoS, or PoA, consequently its repeated occurrence through
GoF should have alerted us to a plot development (or a red herring). We
know that JKR has planned out the story arc, so statistical analysis of
the texts may lead us to spot clues that were not amenable to careful
reading. Not amenable to careful reading because of the context we read
in.

 

I'm particularly interested in this style of attack because it combines
several of my interests: statistics, computer visualizations, and Harry
Potter. I'm hoping to expand this work into a full presentation at Accio
2005 http://www.accio.org.uk/ , but it is taking lots and lots of time
to accomplish a full statistical analysis of the texts (and, of course,
Accio may not accept it).

 

Cheers,

 

Dumbledad.

 

PS <Monty Python>And an almost fanatical devotion to the pope. 7 ways to
predict ...</Monty Python>

 



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