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
RT @SpaceX:
Deployment of 52 Starlink satellites confirmed https://t.co/QqPbBl9gBz
Shouldn't it say "because of lower gun ownership"? twitter.com/2AWisdom/statu…
How do lockdown supporters explain this? How do they explain that the world hasn't exploded yet even though Texas is open? twitter.com/GregAbbott_TX/…
@CausalCulture @Pandurevich @DavidDeutschOxf @ernsterlanson
OK but "I will force you if I can't persuade you" isn't very persuasive...
@CausalCulture @Pandurevich @DavidDeutschOxf @ernsterlanson
It's not pessimistic because I don't prophesy that he will kill himself no matter what. It's optimistic because I'm saying that persuasion can change his mind.
RT @ClimateWarrior7:
We need more visionary leaders with ruthless iron will who are ready to hold these people down and inject them forcibl…
@CausalCulture @Pandurevich @DavidDeutschOxf @ernsterlanson
Also, there are two ways to achieve someone not killing themselves: force or persuasion. Why just discount persuasion in favor of force? Force isn’t the only way.
@CausalCulture @Pandurevich @DavidDeutschOxf @ernsterlanson
Yes, we should, eventually. Forcing someone to live who doesn’t want to live sounds evil. We shouldn’t go around forcing unsolicited help on people. That’s a recipe for tyranny.
@JonNichEdwards @DavidDeutschOxf @alex_sukhovey @iamFilos @ernsterlanson
So, by implication, advertising "junk foods" is evil?
@CausalCulture @Pandurevich @DavidDeutschOxf @ernsterlanson
But if he's stopped arbitrarily he can never test his technology. Maybe it turns out safely swimming in a mercury lake is incredibly fun. We can be wrong about things.
@CausalCulture @Pandurevich @DavidDeutschOxf @ernsterlanson
He may have really good reasons to do it but just doesn't feel like explaining himself to you. Maybe he's developed a piece of clothing that protects him and he wants to try it out. But he also wants to keep his technology a secret for now. So he won't tell you.
@CausalCulture @Pandurevich @DavidDeutschOxf @ernsterlanson
It's like I said: urge him not to do it. Explain the consequences. If he still wants to do it let him do it. If he wants to ruin his life let him.
@JonNichEdwards @DavidDeutschOxf @alex_sukhovey @iamFilos @ernsterlanson
What connection do you see between serial killers and advertisers?
@rejectnation @OnePerfectShot @MouthDork
The guy looks a bit like Walter White. Which makes me think they should make an animated spin-off of Breaking Bad.
RT @jordanbpeterson:
How can this possibly not be in violation of Canadian Human Rights laws? And if not how can those laws be worth the p…
Or maybe playing the long game is necessary for success but not sufficient. (But it doesn't strike me as necessary either.)
"all the successful founders are playing the long game" doesn't mean there can't be arbitrarily many founders who play the long game but aren't successful. So we don't really know if playing the long game makes you a successful founder, which you seem to imply.
RT @popper1902:
New Popper video 🥳
RT @firstofequals:
The rule is now simple: get vaccinated or wear a mask until you do.
The choice is yours.
You may want to call it "opacity" not "transparency" since a value of 0 makes it completely transparent and 1 completely opaque.
@ChrisGuk1 @DavidDeutschOxf @SamHarrisOrg
In any case, I don't want to speak for others, these are just my two cents/a reflection of what I understood things to mean. :)
@ChrisGuk1 @DavidDeutschOxf @SamHarrisOrg
By implication—this is just my interpretation, I could well be wrong of course—this means that science should not be the only factor in human decision-making, and when it is, that means other factors are blocked arbitrarily, and that's not good.
@ChrisGuk1 @DavidDeutschOxf @SamHarrisOrg
So Ernst offered an explanation for why the term "obesity" might be scientism, with which David agreed ("yes") and expanded that making moral choices and talking about them are human rights.
@ChrisGuk1 @DavidDeutschOxf @SamHarrisOrg
For the "yes" to refer to a tweet, that tweet must have come before the "yes". The "yes" was a response to this question from Ernst: twitter.com/ernsterlanson/…
@SeekingApatheia @MagnetThatcher @krlwlzn @petegrif @iamFilos @DavidDeutschOxf
Can you summarize the crit-rat libertarian position in such a way that they would happily sign off on it?
Did you click on the tweet I linked to expand that thread and see what his “yes” refers to?
@MagnetThatcher @petegrif @iamFilos @krlwlzn @DavidDeutschOxf
Why don't libertarians do the work of criticising coercive advertising […]
Probably because we don’t think advertising is coercive. (Whereas banning advertising is.)
@iamFilos @alex_sukhovey @DavidDeutschOxf @ernsterlanson
Many reasons. One is that it’s not for us to say how others should live their lives.
@petegrif @iamFilos @krlwlzn @DavidDeutschOxf
Re traffic rules: blog.dennishackethal.com/posts/libertar…
@CausalCulture @Pandurevich @DavidDeutschOxf @ernsterlanson
Re mercury lake: Yes I think that would be coercion. You can explain the dangers and strongly urge him not to do it. But whether he does it is still up to him, and preventing him from doing so against his will is coercion.
@alex_sukhovey @DavidDeutschOxf @ernsterlanson
It doesn’t mean we should ban them, either.
The term “obesity” is a signal of scientism, not obesity itself. David explains why in the tweet below. Basically what to eat and what to talk about are moral decisions, not scientific ones, and letting science steamroll over morals is a symptom of scientism. twitter.com/DavidDeutschOx…
@iamFilos @krlwlzn @petegrif @DavidDeutschOxf
The “as in” does not seem to describe scientism but seems to be meant to.
Also, I suppose the question is how we jump from “these foods are bad for you” to “let’s ban advertisement of these foods”. There’s a logical and moral gap there.
I think you’d like Deutsch’s work. He says if you can’t program it you haven’t understood it. (And I think to understand something is to program it, if only mentally.) Since they can’t program it (that would have made the news by now!) their claim that they explain it is false.
I meant David Deutsch. I have no opinion on whether Daniel Dennett is a clear thinker.
You’re clever enough. When an author is hard to understand, that’s on the author, not you.
Curious why you find it difficult? He's one of the clearest thinkers I can think of.
RT @SenatorBrakey:
Joe Biden says 22 million Americans lost their jobs due to the pandemic.
That's not accurate.
22 million Americans los…
RT @DaFeid:
German Federal Medical Association
"Families with children can only regain equal participation in society with vaccinated chil…
Sadly, some might interpret this as saying that one should sacrifice liberty to get equality.
So depending on where the reader stands on the liberty vs equality tension he’ll come to two very different conclusions.
Hey at least she has her pronouns in her bio… :)
RT @popper1902:
New(ish) video, Popper on induction: youtube.com/watch?v=RB52xa…
Mal gucken, ob der Artikel nicht bald geaendert wird. Habe ihn in der Zwischenzeit archiviert: web.archive.org/web/2021050919…
Interessant, dass im letzten Satz implizit zugegeben wird, dass auch die Demokratie die Kontrolle des Volkes zum Ziel hat.
I wanted the same thing as a kid. Also with money so you don't need to go to the ATM. twitter.com/thedaoistpunk/…
RT @realchrisrufo:
SCOOP: The Walt Disney Corporation claims that America was founded on “systemic racism,” encourages employees to comple…
RT @realchrisrufo:
🚨I'll be on @TuckerCarlson tonight to unveil my first investigative report on "woke capital." We'll reveal shocking inte…
RT @TheBabylonBee:
Liberals Replace Offensive Term ‘Woman’ With ‘Child Factory Who Bleeds’
babylonbee.com/news/liberals-…
RT @_PauI__:
@abirballan @NickHudsonCT
https://t.co/4PWcvDIO9D
It's the taxpayer that pays for it either way.
New blog post about the problem of "programming in strings": blog.dennishackethal.com/posts/programm…
Nice! Just pre-ordered the hardcover. And it's the #1 new release in epistemology! twitter.com/ToKTeacher/sta…
Cities have doctors and hospitals, nature does not.
The opposite of “nature” isn’t “city” btw. I wasn’t advocating for cities in particular.
This doesn’t say much unless you state the percentage of poor people owning stocks and unless it isn’t high.
And those advancements are a result of that philosophy.
No because I had already granted that the US isn't entirely socialist.
Advancements in science and tech, great business culture and American professionalism are part of it. But it's less about results, more about mindest. Their philosophy values individualism over collectivism.
Can you think of a reason it might be the greatest country on earth?
Those graphics don't refute my points btw.
Like, the US is mostly capitalist and a bit socialist, with the socialist policies gaining more ground over time.
Actually, the greatest. But still we have ever higher taxes, "socialized" education, healthcare, government-monopoly police and army, etc. A country doesn't need gulags or secret police murdering people to be a socialist country, there are different degrees of socialism.
I don't know much about Ireland but yes Europe tends to be more socialist than the US even though Europe today isn't as socialist as the Soviet Union. The US is probably still one of the least socialist countries on Earth, which is partly what makes it one of the greatest.
Happiness isn’t determined genetically so you can be arbitrarily happy if you know how.
@B_Vanderhaegen @crit_rat
I think it’s possible and meaningful but undesirable because it places a claim on other peoples’ resources and may be against their and one’s own preferences. (To be clear, I’m not saying that’s what Sam meant by “duty”, and I may well be wrong anyway!)
@B_Vanderhaegen @crit_rat
Benefit doesn’t imply duty.
Also if one has the knowledge to prevent the other from making progress then you have to cooperate
Why?
@dvassallo @RealNatashaChe
Arbitrarily, because the software can improve the hardware and the environment.
RT @l1berty:
New documentary The Year Earth Changed celebrates the effects of the lockdowns on the natural world, which is at once parochia…
@B_Vanderhaegen @crit_rat
What if they just choose to work on other problems instead (separately or together)? Then knowledge still grows. And if somebody decides he doesn't want to contribute to the growth of knowledge, isn't that okay, too?
@crit_rat
One way I think about narcissism is that the narcissist is unable to realize his fallibility. If there’s a mistake then everyone else must be wrong but no way it’s him. Which could be one measure of being too self-absorbed.
@crit_rat
Why is it a duty to help someone with a shared problem?
@JoeWolfcastle @dvassallo
I haven’t. In exchange I recommend The Beginning of Infinity by David Deutsch, which is partly about why genes aren’t all that powerful and why ideas are much more powerful (especially chapters 14 through 17).
I was trying to say that our ability to adapt the world around is what makes us happy, and that sabotaging this ability by being more "natural" makes us unhappy.
If we're "wired", how do you explain condoms, celibacy, homosexuality, jumping out of airplanes, fasting, etc?
This isn't true because evo psych isn't true. People are creative: they can form new preferences and improve their environment. Nobody would be happy in our dirty, disease-ridden, foul-smelling, disgusting natural environment, and nobody was when we finally emerged from there.
That strikes as a surface-level purpose of schools. I think the deeper, primary purpose is to get children to systematically neglect their own preferences in favor of others’ preferences.
“They become more concerned with their reputation”
Clearly, but why? Here’s one explanation: blog.dennishackethal.com/posts/the-true…
RT @TitaniaMcGrath:
Teachers who refer to “boys” or “girls” are attempting to radicalise a new generation of bigots. This must stop NOW.
I…
“If imposed, it would be the first time it has been made a crime for an Australian to enter their own country.” twitter.com/nomadcapitalis…
RT @CodeWisdom:
"Programming is not about typing, it's about thinking." - Rich Hickey
If there were any evidence for it, would that make it better as an explanation for whatever it purports to explain?