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
@CognitiveVerb @RanoCeros @naomirwolf
You tend to argue from "it works" and "it's democratically justified." Those aren't moral arguments. They're attempts at justification based on outcomes.
What's required is a moral explanation for why coercion is morally okay. Nobody has ever given that explanation.
@CognitiveVerb @RanoCeros @naomirwolf
So now you're saying governments are coercive?
@CognitiveVerb @RanoCeros @naomirwolf
That doesn't refute anything written in the article. Or does it?
@CognitiveVerb @RanoCeros @naomirwolf
Yes. Btw, I never claimed that the legislation was coercion. It is coercive, though.
So do you agree that if a policeman forced you to gouge your own eyes out, on the basis of some legislation, that that's still coercion, even if democratically "legitimized"?
@jcnz88 @paulg
This reminded me to add the traffic thing to these libertarian FAQs: blog.dennishackethal.com/2020/11/28/lib…
@CognitiveVerb @RanoCeros @naomirwolf
I don't doubt that. But can you answer the question? Would that coercive, yes or no?
@CognitiveVerb @RanoCeros @naomirwolf
If your Australian representatives enacted legislation forcing you to gouge your own eyes out at the threat of murder, and everyone voted for it, would that not be coercive?
@__adamjohnson_ @ChipkinLogan
Having one's writing compared to Deutsch's is the highest praise. Glad you like it.
@micahtredding @MatMcGann @dela3499
One has to be tolerant of dissent internal to one's mind as well, if that's what you mean. In other words, these moral theories don't just apply to the creation of ideas that are made explicit (and maybe even communicated to others), but all of them.
@jcnz88 @paulg
But the government doesn't own people's homes so they shouldn't be able to dictate the rules of what happens in those homes.
@jcnz88 @paulg
Then there is the issue of private property rights. Whoever owns roads can make and enforce rules for using them and ban ppl who don't follow them.
People owning or renting homes can make the rules for who gets to enter their homes, for how long, etc because it's their property.
@jcnz88 @paulg
Another difference is that traffic rules are the conditions for using roads. There's nothing wrong with that.
But there's something very wrong with telling people who they can meet up with and when and how often and for how long.
@jcnz88 @paulg
Anyone else they might spread it to is also exposing himself to people voluntarily. Unless he is forced, in which case the answer to force isn't more force but less of it.
The driving thing is an often-used false equivalency because, for one, one doesn't live on the road.
As Popper remarked, it's impossible to speak in such a way as to never be misunderstood. :)
@MatMcGann @dela3499 @micahtredding
Morality is prior to knowledge in other ways, too: one first has to value truth, its pursuit, be tolerant of criticism, allow dissent, etc, to create knowledge. Some of these are related to error correction but some aren't.
I know this is meant as a joke and all, but... Popper wasn't after disproving things...
As Popper pointed out, knowledge-laden systems are better changed piecemeal, as much of the knowledge may be lost through revolutions/sudden major transformations.
RT @EmmanuelMacron:
Wir, Franzosen, teilen den Schock und die Trauer von der Österreicher nach einer Angriff in Wien. Nach Frankreich ist e…
Indeed. It's the creation of knowledge that underpins all of these, and knowledge is always created by evolution.
RT @DavidDeutschOxf:
@thethinkersmith @ToKTeacher @dela3499 @Crit_Rat @reasonisfun
0-3:59 All life is problem solving
YES.
3:59 Therefore i…
@CognitiveVerb @RanoCeros @naomirwolf
Right. So you agree, by implication, that legislation can be coercive.
Do you still disagree that the response to COVID (which, btw, is mostly done by the executive branch, not the legislative one) is coercive and therefore morally illegitimate?
Yearning for liberty? Curious about it? Would living in a truly free society even work?
@ChipkinLogan and I wrote an FAQ with the most common questions about/objections to libertarianism.
@CognitiveVerb @RanoCeros @naomirwolf
Is your answer to the question of what coercion is: "It's when someone is forced to do something they don’t want to do"?
@CognitiveVerb @RanoCeros @naomirwolf
What is coercion? Force someone to do something they don’t want to do?
Are you asking me? I asked you what you think coercion is.
Btw, I didn't ask about legislation.
@CognitiveVerb @RanoCeros @naomirwolf
That doesn't answer my question.
@CognitiveVerb @RanoCeros @naomirwolf
“Then you are not coerced...”
The “then” is misleading because that’s a non-sequitur.
I’m guessing there’s a misunderstanding about the nature of coercion.
In your own words, what’s coercion?
@CognitiveVerb @RanoCeros @naomirwolf
No, that’s something people do out of necessity. Necessity != coercion.
Necessity is often used as an excuse to coerce people.
@CognitiveVerb @RanoCeros @naomirwolf
Right, you’re “obliged” (euphemism for “forced”) to stay inside even if you want to go outside and even though it’s your property. That’s force.
The rationale is irrelevant as it provides no moral explanation. The ends don’t justify the means.
@CognitiveVerb @RanoCeros @naomirwolf
Why do people always go to traffic rules?
No, I’m not, because nobody’s forcing me to drive.
@CognitiveVerb @RanoCeros @naomirwolf
When somebody is subjected to a curfew against his will, that’s coercion.
@CognitiveVerb @RanoCeros @naomirwolf
I saw that you asked the other guy that too.
You may assume that I know nothing about epidemiology. That doesn’t provide a moral explanation for why it’s okay to coerce people into caring for each other’s health. Such an explanation is required before coercing them.
@CognitiveVerb @RanoCeros @naomirwolf
That doesn't mean it's okay to coerce other people into staying home for the health of that person.
Isn’t the constitution there to protect the people?
Yes, to protect people from the government. Not to ensure people's health, much less coerce them into ensuring each other's health.
@DKedmey @DavidDeutschOxf @paulg
Presumably because static societies enforce conformity and date back to the beginning of our evolution.
Judging only by the quote, it strikes me as a variant of Popper's "who should rule" question. Might it be better to ask: how can we identify and correct mistakes in our concepts/theories?
The first link has the same thumbnail as a shorter one of a similar title you may have seen already, but don't be fooled—this one is much longer.
The YT channel Philosophy Overdose has been on a "Popper spree." The other day, they uploaded another lecture of his:
Here are all of their videos on/by Popper: youtube.com/c/Philosophica…
Especially his lectures are highly recommended.
Our knowledge contains mistakes. We want to find and correct them, and seek to better understand the world by making new, better mistakes.
.@AliceDreger is right to criticize relativism: it truly is a rotten ideology. But there can be no "reliable, verifiable knowledge," and it should not be "the common value of the learned"—or anyone else. twitter.com/SwipeWright/st…
It would also be interesting to know a non-refuted moral explanation for why it is okay to lock people and businesses down.
I suppose we won’t ever know such an explanation, either.
@LarsWienand @Der_Postillon @BenjaminHoff
Wieso ist es „unerträglich“?
Lots of good epistemology in the comments. twitter.com/FrancescoCiull…
Plane about an hour delayed so far, no departure time yet. Reason: a Velcro strap that has to be replaced.
Replacement has long been done, but according to the pilot, FAA regulations require about 8 pages of paperwork documenting the change before liftoff.
@RSocPublishing @royalsociety @Independent
First they said we only had one earth. Now they say we only have one moon...
"The problem is there's no law to regulate who gets to use the resources [in space]" GOOD. Keep government out of space.
@gabepllrn @colorcodedlife @scottishlabour @MonicaLennon7 @ScotParl
Not sure I'm interested in actually changing your mind. I just wanted to know if it's even possible. In any field, when that isn't possible, that's a bad sign.
Btw, distrusting another's opinion simply because it contradicts one's own is another anti-rational attitude.
Yeah. Socialists never call what they do "theft" and "violence." Instead they like to speak of "free stuff" and "equity" and "justice."
@gabepllrn @colorcodedlife @scottishlabour @MonicaLennon7 @ScotParl
If one can't change your mind, why engage in discussion? It sounds like you're protecting your ideas in this area from criticism, which means you will have a harder time noticing mistakes, which means you will have a harder time learning and making progress.
I'm afraid it looks like it's real:
@gabepllrn @colorcodedlife @scottishlabour @MonicaLennon7 @ScotParl
How could one change your mind?
@gabepllrn @colorcodedlife @scottishlabour @MonicaLennon7 @ScotParl
Earth
@colorcodedlife @gabepllrn @scottishlabour @MonicaLennon7 @ScotParl
I wasn’t talking about recognition. Did you see Burr’s video?
@colorcodedlife @gabepllrn @scottishlabour @MonicaLennon7 @ScotParl
Fully agree however that people should think much harder before having children.
@colorcodedlife @gabepllrn @scottishlabour @MonicaLennon7 @ScotParl
If it’s really the hardest thing women do, that tells you something about the comfortable lives many women live compared to men. Burr gives great examples of really, really difficult jobs typically only men do. Like working on an oil drill in the middle of the ocean.
@scottishlabour @MonicaLennon7 @ScotParl @WatchRatio
I’m sure your inbox is already glowing with this one.
@colorcodedlife @peternotspidey1 @gabepllrn @scottishlabour @MonicaLennon7 @ScotParl
I suppose a woman who has had a limb shot off could settle this for us...
@colorcodedlife @peternotspidey1 @gabepllrn @scottishlabour @MonicaLennon7 @ScotParl
I think suddenly placing emphasis on enduring pain is a dodge, because you initially placed more focus on things like pregnancy.
Even so, the prolonged effects of losing a limb, including phantom pain, every day are surely worse than a period once a month?
@colorcodedlife @peternotspidey1 @gabepllrn @scottishlabour @MonicaLennon7 @ScotParl
How do they handle the pain of having limbs shot off in war?
@colorcodedlife @gabepllrn @scottishlabour @MonicaLennon7 @ScotParl
There are women who think motherhood is the toughest job in the world.
@peternotspidey1 @colorcodedlife @gabepllrn @scottishlabour @MonicaLennon7 @ScotParl
Interestingly, that argument works both in favor and against men, depending on how you read it.
— If feminine-hygiene products, why not food? Why not shoes? Why not housing? What shouldn't be "free"?
— Presumably, the Scottish taxpayer pays for this. Why are men forced to pay for products they will never ever use?
— Wait, is this a prank?
I don't know the details, but some thoughts:
— They're not free. It's just not the consumer who pays for them. Somebody else is forced to instead.
— They say the vote passed unanimously. Assuming the votes aren't secret, who could have voted against and not be canceled? twitter.com/ScottishLabour…
Great street. Used to live nearby. I should go visit soon...
I fell for it, too.
The thing is, even when real, no matter how sophisticated the knowledge in an animal, it may just have inherited it, in which case biological evolution created the knowledge, not the animal.
That fools roughly everybody.
@Snusketeer @DavidDeutschOxf
Once infectious diseases are a thing of the past, our immune systems don’t need to shield against them anymore. And any other selective pressures would remain.
Or am I missing something?
RT @andyblanck1:
A #ww1 battlefield, after 103 years.
#italianfront https://t.co/O74xdL19VR
Note that everyone who shows up agrees to take the risk voluntarily. So what’s the problem?
It is nobody’s job to ensure the health of everyone else.
Ja, esse ich auch heute noch sehr gerne. Kartoffeln erst mit der Gabel zerdruecken, dann geschmolzene Butter drueber giessen und dann eine Prise Salz drueber. Himmlisch.
That sometimes the cold, hard realities of life require us to do something we don't want to do may be true, but it shouldn't stop us from seeking fun as much as possible.
"We’re not here to promote American values"
I have recommended people not use Airbnb due to their support of the socialist BLM organization. Now you have another reason: they share your user data with the Communist Party. twitter.com/pnjaban/status…
.@ChipkinLogan's latest and brilliant article on the futility and authoritarian nature of "truth commissions." Read it now: blog.dennishackethal.com/2020/11/20/a-t…
RT @KevinKileyCA:
In my district Gov. Newsom's curfew is a dead letter. All three Sheriffs are not enforcing it, trusting people to make th…
Deploying to Heroku for the first time was definitely a BIG one.
RT @SpaceX:
Crew-1’s view of Earth during Dragon’s flight to the @space_station https://t.co/lQW6TYmpB7
RT @EricsElectrons:
Identity driven virtue signaling has made its way to respected physics review journals, unfortunately.
If you give wok…
Wie in der Wayback-Maschine ersichtlich ist, wird dieser Artikel staendig veraendert. Das Zitat erscheint leider nicht mehr.
@cmarschner @mzeshle @pmddomingos
It’s not really that heretic to say that individualism is overrated. Many would celebrate that statement, even in the West.
Btw, Germany (where twitter says you live) is pretty collectivist already. “Sozialstaat,” “Eigentum verpflichtet,” etc.
"I hope that we step up our fight against totalitarian ideas, because even a healthy society means nothing when it isn't free."
Schools instill altruism, which in turn causes lockdowns and acquiescence. Some remarks:
Good. At least some people are outraged. twitter.com/TheCoronaCure_…
@mrbcyber @MichaelPSenger @ontheasternsea
Meaning any site accessible in China shouldn’t necessarily be trusted?
What if the computer-vision system works entirely differently from human vision?
RT @pnjaban:
So Gavin Newsom’s unmasked, crowded $400-a-head dinner at CA’s most exclusive restaurant included MULTIPLE lobbyists. The CA M…
“[...] es sind nicht alles Rechtsextremisten, die dort mitlaufen, sondern auch Menschen, die Existenzängste haben.”
Benjamin Jendro, Gewerkschaft der Polizei
RT @tomhyde_:
Oh no! We live in a society where people can profit from saving it. 😭
Thread 🧵👇
@FunFallibilism
Or why you failed to solve it. Or why you think it can’t be solved. Etc.
@FunFallibilism
Solve a problem you want to solve and for which there exist no non-refuted solutions. Then write about that problem and how you solved it.