So I agree about the Horcruxes being MacGuffins, they just end up doing fetch quests to get them. Do you think she retconned the journal into being a Horcrux after developing those plotlines later? As far as I can remember it's the only one that there's any major interaction with outside of trying to figure out how to destroy it.
I have had students talk about how they use ChatGPT as a sort of ersatz therapist—they know it's not the same as a real therapist but as you said, the AI is relentlessly supportive and affirming. The problem is that if what you lack is actual human interaction, then it isn't even a substitute for that, since there's nothing human about it, and it will make up heaven and earth in order to respond to your prompts.
So I agree about the Horcruxes being MacGuffins, they just end up doing fetch quests to get them. Do you think she retconned the journal into being a Horcrux after developing those plotlines later? As far as I can remember it's the only one that there's any major interaction with outside of trying to figure out how to destroy it.
I have had students talk about how they use ChatGPT as a sort of ersatz therapist—they know it's not the same as a real therapist but as you said, the AI is relentlessly supportive and affirming. The problem is that if what you lack is actual human interaction, then it isn't even a substitute for that, since there's nothing human about it, and it will make up heaven and earth in order to respond to your prompts.