Dennis Hackethal’s Blog

My blog about philosophy, coding, and anything else that interests me.

Tweets

An archive of my tweets and retweets through . They may be formatted slightly differently than on Twitter. API access has since gotten prohibitively expensive – I don't know whether or when I'll be able to update this archive.

But in case I will, you can subscribe via RSS – without a Twitter account. Rationale

@krlwlzn @reasonisfun @WorriedDenizen @iamFilos @EpistemicHope @Kaiwingchun @ToKTeacher @MatjazLeonardis @DavidDeutschOxf @DorfGinger @micahtredding @Vivify705 @bnielson01 @crit_rat

A counterpoint to feminist critique generally is that many women, especially (but not only) pretty ones, are valued extremely highly in society—to inflationary levels in some cases, I dare say. It's a lot more difficult for men to attain the same status.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@krlwlzn @reasonisfun @WorriedDenizen @iamFilos @EpistemicHope @Kaiwingchun @ToKTeacher @MatjazLeonardis @DavidDeutschOxf @DorfGinger @micahtredding @Vivify705 @bnielson01 @crit_rat

FWIW, men who exhibit traits desirable in women are also often perceived negatively. Maybe what's really the issue is the discomfort some people feel when somebody else—of any gender—doesn't conform to cultural norms.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@TahaElGabroun

Regardless, if you weren't able to follow him, be careful not to mistake that for him being brilliant.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@TahaElGabroun

I spoke with him and the others in that room briefly. Going off of memory—and I'll need to review the recording to be sure—he seemed to advocate for some mysticism/supernaturalism regarding the brain. Wasn't able to convince him otherwise.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @TheAtlasSociety:
The Burdensome Boxes Just Keep Stacking! #AynRand #Congress #ShrinkGovernment https://t.co/oHIbKM25io

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

This was a great event. twitter.com/ToKTeacher/sta…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

Buggy animal programming twitter.com/_Islamicat/sta…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @ThePracticalDev:
Previously, compound assignment operators were only possible with mathematical and bitwise operations. ES2021 now supp…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

I'm starting to think 90% of what makes a good front-end design is a good font coupled with a white background and a basic layout.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@tomhyde_

What's interesting is that the smallest possible piece of matter moves at the same time at both ends when pushed. So either every push of any object requires faster-than-light travel, or none does, because no smallest object exists. Which leads me to believe the latter.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@bbubbles13 @GavinNewsom

At whose expense?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@GavinNewsom

At whose expense?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @Jan_K_Tyrel:
Leaving the Soviet sector...
Berlin Friedrichstrasse Station after midnight.
#Berlin #Fog #Friedrichstrasse #SpreeNoir #…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@reasonisfun @ScienceandLove @ella_hoeppner @dela3499 @bnielson01

Here's a summary of mine: blog.dennishackethal.com/2020/07/22/the…

The key differentiator compared to other theories of the mind is that it introduces and relies upon replication of ideas inside single minds. This has been a friendly point of contention with @ella_hoeppner.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@BennyChugg @ReachChristofer @RealtimeAI @crit_rat

If one isn't the author, one is an automaton. If one isn't the enactor, one isn't free to act on one's ideas. Both conditions are sufficient only when taken together, neither will suffice by itself.

2/2

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@BennyChugg @ReachChristofer @RealtimeAI @crit_rat

What most ppl think doesn't make most ppl right, and it doesn't change the infinite-regress problem.

Re being "vacuously true," that's why it needs to be both author and enactor.

1/2

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@david_heath @Ayaan

I agree.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

I imagine the left considers a claim by Pelosi that Trump might use nuclear weapons evidence of that same claim.

politico.com/news/2021/01/0…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@BennyChugg @ReachChristofer @RealtimeAI @crit_rat

They can’t, and that’s not what free will is about. It would also lead to an infinite regress.

Free will is about being to able to have new conjectures period. It means that one is the author and enactor of one’s choices.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@horsetrix @Ayaan

Thanks. I just read the two "problematic" ones. They're not inciting violence or anything remotely resembling that.

blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/c…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@KazoliasG @Ayaan

Indeed. And it's also libelous to claim somebody incited violence when they didn't.

twitter.com/dchackethal/st…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @dchackethal:
@Ayaan

Check these screenshots people. I cannot find any evidence that Trump incited violence. Instead, I found the follow…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@Ayaan

Check these screenshots people. I cannot find any evidence that Trump incited violence. Instead, I found the following two screenshots where he does the opposite.

(from archive.vn/2OyPa)

Screenshots or it didn't happen. https://t.co/MRAWRFmRjh

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@akajewels @Ayaan

I'm not saying Twitter isn't allowed to. I agree they have the right to block Trump. I'm saying it's a bad idea.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @dchackethal:
@ladyunicornejg @Ayaan

I'd like to ask for quotes and links to Trump's tweets where he's "inciting violence" because I dou…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ladyunicornejg @Ayaan

I'd like to ask for quotes and links to Trump's tweets where he's "inciting violence" because I doubt he did. But now nobody can quote him because he's been blocked!

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

.@ChipkinLogan, @bnielson01, @ks445599 and I are discussing the #TrumpBan live, chime in: neutron.app/rooms/68c65967…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@Ayaan

Indeed. This was a bad move on Twitter's part. What happened to "I disagree with what you're saying, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it."?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @Ayaan:
Silencing Trump is dumb and dangerous. OK, go ahead and ban us all!

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

Come join the revolution twitter.com/ChipkinLogan/s…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

When you accept government stimulus checks, you're trading your freedom. You're sending a clear message that says: "yes, you may take away my freedom as long as you pay me a dime for it." You're telling them that your freedom can be purchased, and for a very low price at that.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@codingChewie @Sferyczny @eggheadio @maxcell

What's the social preview?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@GavinNewsom

At whose expense?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@EpistemicHope

I'd add two related core CR/Deutschian ideas:

  • Universal "explainerness" means there cannot be such a thing as a "superintelligence," and a belief in one amounts to a belief in the supernatural
  • "Alignment" is immoral because it's coercive
@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@EpistemicHope @iamFilos

I believe the sky-diving example originated with David Deutsch in one of his episodes on Sam Harris' podcast.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@SimonHoiberg

Isn’t the fact that this is react rather incidental?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@MichaelPSenger

Good for you. Godspeed.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@BernieSanders @dhh

At whose expense?!

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@TheAtlasSociety

Correct, he'd need to get his shirts from shirt.gov: youtube.com/watch?v=IgrOYP…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@krlwlzn

Yes they’re wrong.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

In other words, under this forced contract, the state always retains the power to restrict its subjects’ movement.

The signature is forced, and movement requires a signature. There is no escaping this reality. The contract is null and void—we should work toward something better.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

Statists like to claim that “society,” taxes, etc rest on a “social contract” (Hobbes). But a contract is null and void when the signature is forced.

Statists might reply that those who don’t like it can emigrate. That’s false, because the state issues travel documents.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

"Look at me I know social-justice speak." twitter.com/JoeBiden/statu…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@sasa_s

Genau, die gibt es auch.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@BrexitCelebrity @janekin24 @DeRossiBeard @JennyCh03685868

If true, it's coercion.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

I just double checked and yes, the linked article states that companies would be fined €43,000 ($53,000) for not complying.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

Of course, what this is really about is extending government overreach into companies' workforces even further, dictating who they can and cannot hire and when and why.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

There are lawsuits waiting to happen to companies required to fire women for being women in the name of representing women. Either that or they violate the regulation, which is presumably fined. They can't win.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

For example, it would force some companies to fire women in the name of representing women when the number of employees increases (an analog of the Alabama paradox in voting).

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

I've written about perfect representation along gender (or other metrics) not only being undesirable but mathematically impossible because it leads to paradoxes those favoring representation couldn't possibly want: blog.dennishackethal.com/2020/11/08/bal…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

I paraphrase the great @billburr: "If women are so upset about not being represented enough, why don't more of them start their own shit?" twitter.com/ClimateWarrior…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@denedo_tega @SimonHoiberg

Because otherwise there wouldn't be much to show in the stack trace.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@madsbrodt

You say “using JS, for example.” What else would one use?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@addyosmani @tobiasahlin

I've been wondering if that's the same thing as on the Stripe homepage?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@GavinNewsom

At whose expense?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

And here I was thinking I had to make the Berlin transpiler do it... Will be nice to remove some lines of unnecessary source code. twitter.com/denicmarko/sta…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@cloroussy

Exactly. It's a similar kind of asymmetry as the one Popper explains between confirmation and falsification.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

And that, right there, is why programmers are Popperians, even if they don't know it. twitter.com/catalinmpit/st…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

You want to learn about AGI, but where to start? Read these chapters from David Deutsch's The Beginning of Infinity for the cutting edge of AGI research:

blog.dennishackethal.com/2021/01/05/wan…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@iamFilos @ToKTeacher @DorfGinger @EpistemicHope @micahtredding @MatjazLeonardis @WorriedDenizen @Vivify705 @krlwlzn @reasonisfun @DavidDeutschOxf @bnielson01 @crit_rat

Brett wasn't calling Eli anything. If I understand correctly, he was characterizing the views some people hold, not any particular person. I think he was trying to be helpful by offering criticism.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @RamenRockets:
@EpistemicHope

Also, Dennis Hackethal @dchackethal is pretty good at explaining the critrat position on AGI.

https://t.c…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@__adamjohnson_ @TahaElGabroun

Ah, I mean "understood" as in "you objectively contain the knowledge of how to solve the problem," not as in "you subjectively experience having found the solution." You're right that the latter may not happen.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@__adamjohnson_ @TahaElGabroun

I'd go even further: to understand something is to program it, if only mentally.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@__adamjohnson_ @TahaElGabroun

I do think if you can program it, that means you've understood it. Sometimes we programmers stumble upon a working solution by accident, but that's rare. And even then we're not content until we find out why it's working.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

And today they would call it "artificial intelligence." twitter.com/PessimistsArc/…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@NickHudsonCT

Christ.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ella_hoeppner @dela3499

FYI, since the request for refutation isn't being met, I may drop out of the conversation. (To be clear, I'm not saying it's your responsibility to come up with a refutation, I'm just letting you know that I may drop out and don't want to do so without an explanation.)

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ella_hoeppner @dela3499

Like, one shouldn't drop a theory just because there is another one that's also hard to vary and explains more or less the same phenomena (if that is the case).

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ella_hoeppner @dela3499

I think the NDTM is quite hard to vary as well. In any case, my point about the dinosaurs—or any arbitrary good theory—is just about what it takes to refute it, not about how hard to vary it is.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ella_hoeppner @dela3499

That's true of any theory and its refutation. A refutation explains why it can't be true, not why it need not be true. No theory need be true.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ella_hoeppner @dela3499

... just because there are infinitely many ways to explain fossils that don't involve dinosaurs and so one doesn't "need" them (so the argument goes).

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ella_hoeppner @dela3499

...instrumentalist reasons, but the result is the same). Advocates of the reality of past dinosaurs are right to hang on to their theory until somebody explains to them why there couldn't have been dinosaurs. It's not surprising that they won't change their minds...

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ella_hoeppner @dela3499

In this discussion, replace my theory with the dinosaur "theory" of fossils and it reads a bit differently, perhaps. There are those who say dinosaurs really existed. Then there are those who say dinosaurs are an unnecessary addition/interpretation of fossils (for different,...

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ella_hoeppner @dela3499

because you could always find some way to add replication to a system

That's still thinking in terms of necessary/unnecessary, not possible/impossible. I won't keep adding replication back into the theory if it can be shown that it cannot contain replication.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ella_hoeppner @dela3499

Ok. A refutation, not a replacement, will be needed to change my mind. On that note it would be good to know what would cause you to accept the theory.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@dela3499 @ella_hoeppner

Circuits are physical objects. Btw my theory isn’t about memes either.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@dela3499 @ella_hoeppner

I hadn’t seen this. Note that “neural Darwinism” and the neo-Darwinian theory of the mind are very different because (judging by a brief skim of the article) the former is about hardware only while the latter is about software only. The former also seems a bit empiricist.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

Scotland Police promoting a snitch tool in violation of freedom of assembly and association. twitter.com/PoliceScotland…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@EpistemicHope @iamFilos @micahtredding @MatjazLeonardis @ella_hoeppner @WorriedDenizen @DorfGinger @Vivify705 @krlwlzn

Note that you're explicitly stating a meme-replication strategy. Should that not give you pause that something has potentially hijacked your thinking so it can get itself replicated more?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@EpistemicHope @iamFilos @micahtredding @MatjazLeonardis @ella_hoeppner @WorriedDenizen @DorfGinger @Vivify705 @krlwlzn

Right, because it assumes that alignment is a worthwhile goal. Any way to convince you that that isn't the case?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ella_hoeppner @dela3499

...that it gives you those things for free. And evolution doesn't use weights as far as I know...

Do you have an explanation not for why mental evolution need not involve replication, but for why it can't, i.e., a refutation?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ella_hoeppner @dela3499

Well, we've discussed this before, but IIRC, at least two things can't be explained without replication in a mind: memory and the evolution of people. We could always fix that by coming up with an ad-hoc solution like adding weights, but the nice thing about neo-Darwinism is...

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@EpistemicHope @MatjazLeonardis @iamFilos @micahtredding @ella_hoeppner @WorriedDenizen @DorfGinger @Vivify705 @krlwlzn

I usually take them at their word and stop arguing with them, but yes, sometimes they're wrong about that. :)

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@EpistemicHope @MatjazLeonardis @iamFilos @micahtredding @ella_hoeppner @WorriedDenizen @DorfGinger @Vivify705 @krlwlzn

Yeah to be clear this wasn't meant as a comment on your stance, just as an example.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@EpistemicHope @MatjazLeonardis @iamFilos @micahtredding @ella_hoeppner @WorriedDenizen @DorfGinger @Vivify705 @krlwlzn

Yes. Also, when someone doesn't know what would change their minds, it's even harder for you to find that out.

Worse, they might say "nothing could change my mind", in which case you've saved a lot of time by not arguing with someone whose mind can't be changed.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@MatjazLeonardis @EpistemicHope @iamFilos @micahtredding @ella_hoeppner @WorriedDenizen @DorfGinger @Vivify705 @krlwlzn

For example, somebody could be convinced that "alignment" philosophies aren't bad by convincing him that coercion isn't bad. That doesn't mean he already thinks coercion isn't bad—he's just offering some way to open the door into his mind.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@MatjazLeonardis @EpistemicHope @iamFilos @micahtredding @ella_hoeppner @WorriedDenizen @DorfGinger @Vivify705 @krlwlzn

No. It could be nobody has made that argument yet, or you think the argument is false but would change your mind if it were shown to be true and nobody has shown that yet.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@EpistemicHope @iamFilos @micahtredding @MatjazLeonardis @ella_hoeppner @WorriedDenizen @DorfGinger @Vivify705 @krlwlzn

IIRC, you think that the default outcome of AGI is certain doom.

If so, how could one convince that that isn't the case?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ToKTeacher

It is rather reminiscent of those scenes from WALL-E. Although it is a gorgeous movie, it promotes the spaceship-earth idea—despite depicting people as having succeeded in leaving this rock.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@denicmarko

It’s also useful for converting form data into a map.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@dhh

Yes. Governments need to stop imprisoning people in their homes and shutting down their businesses.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

.@ChipkinLogan and I are trying out a tool. Join us as we talk about lockdowns, libertarianism, philosophy, and whatever else we feel like talking about. A fun Saturday night chat.

konferenzing.herokuapp.com/rooms/5384c7b7…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

Everyone out and about voluntarily decides to take the risk. Others are free to isolate. Sounds like Montgomery says unless you ensure the health of others by sacrificing your life, you have blood on your hands.

That's not how this works. Let people manage their health. twitter.com/RichardDawkins…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @michaelmalice:
this is completely untrue
the majority and possibly vast majority do twitter.com/ErikRHarris/st…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ella_hoeppner @dela3499

Re multiple copies of ideas seeming pointless: I’ve argued that this feature allows us to explain things we couldn’t explain as well otherwise (memory, conviction... Ella is familiar). And why not claim that gene replication in the biosphere is pointless as well?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

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