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
Embarrassing that government approval is needed for this. Just think how much faster all this could go. twitter.com/sawyermerritt/…
RT @MrsMThatcher:
The Government treats industry like a beast of burden. They put more and more weight on the animal, starve it of nutritio…
New highscore in Getting Over It: 12m 17s
I plan to get even better
Examples of tautologies, from the game Getting Over It:
- “forward progress”
- “uphill ascent”
Instead, say ‘progress’ and ‘ascent’.
RT @Tommy_USA:
Nothing says “I ❤️ public schools” like:
“We need to force kids to go to public schools or else they won't go to public s…
Typo. Should be either ‘such crises’ or ‘such a crisis’.
RT @LPMisesCaucus:
The corruption of the family court system on full display as these children are forcibly removed from their father and t…
RT @VoCommunism:
Remember the victims. pic.twitter.com/Mg1eLwHlew
I’m sure he understands machine learning/neural networks/whatever. What I mean is that people like him (I was thinking of Bostrom, Musk, etc) don’t understand Popperian epistemology well enough to gauge the risks properly. Nor do they understand AGI.
RT @chillywillers:
Mining restrictions hurt capitalism’s image because it is then done in places with few labor protections https://t.co/9V…
RT @AuronMacintyre:
Imagine how crazy you would need to be to believe that people inside the federal government work to exercise power over…
Yes, getting out of the way really is a key part. twitter.com/danmartell/sta…
The abuse was a given.
Consider that you’re making these arguments because you are (presumably) a fan of DD. I’ve run into similar situations where ppl immediately threw their arguments overboard when it was about someone they disliked.
Memes that solve a problem don’t necessarily spread better either.
Say a judge abuses his power and sends innocent people to prison.
Surely you’d agree that he should be held accountable.
If not, then good ideas—ie those saying not to abuse power—are at a serious disadvantage.
Memes that fill a niche better than the alternatives are selected for.
Those aren’t necessarily better ideas, just better replicators.
Better ideas don’t always replace worse ones, that’s not how meme evolution works.
A good way to prevent bad ideas from spreading in the first place is the expectation of accountability.
I don’t know why you’re so opposed to accountability.
That is, conducive to error correction.
Are others obligated to respect someone’s preference of not being held accountable just in case it might interfere with learning?
I don’t think he is a fallibilist.
People who are happy to be held accountable won’t be hesitant to make mistakes. They’ll find accountability conducive to that end.
It’s true that one can judge ideas independently of their source, but you can still judge the source too, no?
As he mentions, even if someone "evil" told you a good idea, it would still be a good idea.
Just by ascribing that do DD instead of the fictional version of Hermes you’re holding DD accountable. You’re doing the thing you’re criticizing.
As I explain in the post, when people avoid accountability, that leads to lies, hypocrisy, and indefinite delays. That seems relevant, and I provided evidence for all three. Do you have a refutation?
Still my favorite quote about coding. twitter.com/codinglanguage…
@FallingIntoFilm @InfinitOptimism
Fascinating that the trick works even after it’s been explained.
I’m not a lawyer but I don’t think people have to prove their innocence, Nancy. twitter.com/speakerpelosi/…
“[T]he state of Florida licenses ballroom dance studio operators, hair braiders, and interior designers.”
How utterly unnecessary that seems. twitter.com/bankableinsigh…
They say they don’t like being objectified while also comparing themselves to objects. twitter.com/onlyfanspostin…
Ich wusste nicht, dass er so gut Deutsch spricht. Nahezu akzentfrei, wirklich beeindruckend. twitter.com/vds_weltweit/s…
Hmm. Interesting discussion, thanks for clarifying your views. Cheers!
Why should there be a cap on how good a society can be?
And there couldn’t be a society even more peaceful and wealthy that doesn’t depend on violating basic logic?
Just like the government, I’d never turn down another million, no matter how much money I’ve already extorted from ppl. ;-)
What good can a society be whose functioning depends on violating the law of the excluded middle, ie basic logic?
I guess it should say at least 85%. Whatever, you get the idea
For the sake of fixing the thought experiment accordingly, I could simply assure you that, if you don’t give me $1,000,000, I’ll make it very unpleasant for at least 15% of the population.
So we agree that your position can’t be right. Yet you also think the opposing position can’t be right.
You can’t consistently hold both of those positions, can you?
Where’s David Deutsch’s Accountability? blog.dennishackethal.com/posts/where-s-…
Ok, then I’d like to enforce the contract where you agreed to give me $1,000,000 dollars. Didn’t sign it? I don’t care.
The more dangerous a virus the easier it is to persuade people to stay at home and then you don’t need to force them to. And vulnerable people have always been free to isolate. There was never a need for forced isolation. It makes no sense. twitter.com/andrew_lilico/…
Maybe they disagree it’s their problem. Maybe some don’t feel they owe anyone a functioning society, or they disagree that not being indebted to one’s elders destroys society. Or maybe they think contracts can only be enforced if there’s a signature and it was given voluntarily.
How can children be responsible for something they could not possibly have had any say in?
Here’s the guy who thinks he’s working on AGI calling for regulation of his own field.
When do entrepreneurs do this? When they want less competition.
Good news is that Altman isn’t actually working on AGI! I’d bet money he doesn’t know the first thing about it. twitter.com/sama/status/16…
What do you think about: you’re not indebted unless you agreed to be?
Great points by Maher. Also check out thereligionofpeace.com for a good resource on why islam is different. twitter.com/emily8275/stat…
RT @feeonline:
The Nazis, we’re told, weren’t socialists because they attacked unions and striking workers.
Let’s see what other regimes d…
RT @TechnophobiaOrg:
A leading neo-luddite is calling for nuclear holocaust to save us from AI.
This is a dangerous and reactionary death…
Straight out of Atlas Shrugged. Smh twitter.com/erikphoel/stat…
‘I’m worried we’re not going to be able to contain this technology.’
RT @VoCommunism:
Stalin died 70 years ago. He left behind a legacy of terror, famine, and mass murder.
Remember the victims. https://t.co…
getting over it but with a mountain that grows infinitely higher and is different every time
What Would Popper Have Said about Covid Scientism? blog.dennishackethal.com/posts/what-wou…
RT @prof_freedom:
10 Minutes Covid Madness.
Never forget.
Please retweet to hell.
Thank you 🙏 pic.twitter.com/ioWOiuEga7
If you’re looking for video format, this playlist is good: youtube.com/playlist?list=…
If you’re looking for video format, this playlist is good: youtube.com/playlist?list=…
I don’t think that video is very good. Gotta be very careful with secondary sources on Popper because most ppl misunderstand or mischaracterize his views. Even DD’s account of Popper’s ideas has a slight reduction in quality. Best to read Popper himself (DD is a close second).
Karl Popper’s Conjectures and Refutations and Objective Knowledge; David Deutsch’s The Beginning of Infinity chapter 1 is a good intro to Popperian epistemology.
Epistemology is worth checking out (Popper; I may have mentioned him before). I think good epistemologists like him understand more about the mind than psychologists.
TIL that feminism originally opposed abortion: euthanasia.com/ros-leh.html
“Yet nobody is talking about it.”
Aren’t more people talking about it than ever before?
Missing someone’s point would be a type of ignorance.
What I said wasn’t intended as a lecture—btw you’re showing a pattern of seeing bad intent where there is none—but ok have a good one.
I think I did address it; either way, accusing others of intentional ignorance, particularly when they made an effort, is bad for discourse.
Maybe I did miss something, but that could just be because discussions are hard and misunderstandings inevitable, as Popper would say.
To be clear, I’m talking about a larger problem-solving process, of which traditions like SO are just a part.
My guess is that things like Stack Overflow will remain alive and well; that people will still enjoy helping others; and that chatgpt will enhance that, not neuter it.
Similar to how radio is still a thing, despite TV and internet.
“The issue is from whence will the solutions come.” Nobody can know in advance. But that also hasn’t stopped us from making progress in the past few hundred years. On the contrary, the optimism required to accept this unknowability has enabled progress in the first place.
RT @newsycombinator:
Web fingerprinting is worse than I thought bitestring.com/posts/2023-03-…
Even worse than all the typos in this article.
I don’t know about social trust but yes we’ve been passing down knowledge too. But knowledge to do what? To solve new problems.
What you’re in effect bemoaning is that problem situations don’t remain the same. Thank god they don’t! How boring that would be!
Then the industry will evolve and we’ll solve this problem. And then the next one that arises from its solution. And so on.
It’s how we’ve been doing things for a few hundred years now. So there’s no need to be “deeply worried”.
@sonikudzu @brezina @jbrowder1 @cocksure_crypto
I do. It’s just a separate thing.
@sonikudzu @brezina @jbrowder1 @cocksure_crypto
My claim was not that “they don’t even turn a profit.” I merely refuted your claim that they do.
@sonikudzu @brezina @jbrowder1 @cocksure_crypto
I just learned that USPS is not funded by taxes, not even partially, as I thought.
But I also learned that USPS hasn’t turned a profit since 2006. So no “surplus”.
For the record, I voted on this by accident.
“It is in America’s interest that Ukraine wins the war […].”
That includes my interest and I disagree.
All interesting points and worth reading—I learned something new—but none deal with the moral issues of taxation or conscription. twitter.com/bankableinsigh…
@sonikudzu @brezina @jbrowder1 @cocksure_crypto
I have no sympathy for a government-run entity. Maybe USPS should come up with a better way to make money.
RT @ThomasSowell:
Inflation is a quiet but effective way for the government to transfer resources from the people to itself, without raisin…
RT @BankableInsight:
The 10 Commandments contain 297 words. The Bill of Rights is stated in 463 words. Lincoln's Gettysburg Address contain…
@SamFeddd @michalkosinski @EDUreboot
I was gonna call it ‘fear porn’ but ‘fear mongering’ captures it better.
RT @SamFeddd:
@michalkosinski @EDUreboot
But you need to ask it to? It will never do this, ever. It is fundamentally not how predictive lan…