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

@StefanoPortogh1 @SPortoghesi @DavidDeutschOxf

The question wasn't whether there are laws of nature, it was whether there are laws of nature that would have prevented people from realizing that voluntary cooperation would be preferable over slavery.

I recommend posting comments as children, not siblings. Easier to follow.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@StefanoPortogh1 @SPortoghesi @DavidDeutschOxf

We don't owe our ancestors anything. And so you've changed your mind on wealth only being good when it's equally distributed? And how would that follow from that debt of gratitude btw?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@StefanoPortogh1 @SPortoghesi @DavidDeutschOxf

No, I'm not trying to justify slavery. And as I have said, a good case can be made that we would be wealthier today had slavery not been a thing and had people cooperated voluntarily instead. Again, problems are soluble. They are now and they were then.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@StefanoPortogh1 @SPortoghesi @DavidDeutschOxf

Slave owners would have realized that control over others is a bad thing had they had the requisite knowledge. And slaves would not have run off to "their african motherland" had society known how to cooperate peacefully.

Are there laws of nature that prevented this?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@StefanoPortogh1 @SPortoghesi @DavidDeutschOxf

Oh, I see, you have two accounts.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@StefanoPortogh1 @SPortoghesi @DavidDeutschOxf

You're making it sound like I said that slaves wanted to be slaves. I didn't.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@StefanoPortogh1 @SPortoghesi @DavidDeutschOxf

Ah, and so we should pay the price for our ancestors' sins and elect Robin Hoods who forcefully take money from those evil rich people and give it to the innocent poor?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@StefanoPortogh1 @SPortoghesi @DavidDeutschOxf

I don't need to prove that because again, theories can't be proven.

Isn't your claim that wealth could not have been built without slavery a bit ironic, given that until a minute ago you had "BLM ✊" in your bio? Unless you think wealth is bad...

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@StefanoPortogh1 @SPortoghesi @DavidDeutschOxf

People don't always do what's in their best interest.

Slave owners could have saved money through voluntary cooperation because they wouldn't have had to house and feed slaves and keep them moderately healthy. Learned this from @tomhyde_

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@SPortoghesi @DavidDeutschOxf

either something is forbidden by the laws of nature, or it is achievable, given the right knowledge. It's doubtful that not having slavery in the 1800s would have been against the laws of nature, don't you think?

Btw theories can’t be proven true anyway (Popper).

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@SPortoghesi @DavidDeutschOxf

I have explained how that wealth could have been built without slavery:

People could have gotten wealthier without slavery back then too if they had known how.

For more background, I refer you to Deutsch's 'momentous dichotomy':

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@JimiSommer

Also schools could ask children if they consented to being sent to school, and if not, help them defend themselves against their tyrannical parents. And these efforts could be funded voluntarily through donations.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@JimiSommer

I suppose in principle parents could always coerce their children if they really wanted to, but the cost of doing that could be raised to such a level that they wouldn't want to. That requires a change in culture, I think.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@SPortoghesi @DavidDeutschOxf

Although slavery was a thing, it seems to me the vast majority of wealth was historically created, as today, through voluntary cooperation, not coercion, because the latter is much more efficient and peaceful and positive sum.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@SPortoghesi @DavidDeutschOxf

I didn’t make a historical claim. It’s an epistemological one, which, if true, is true at all times. People could have gotten wealthier without slavery back then too if they had known how. (And some have argued convincingly that being a slave holder made one poorer.)

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@JimiSommer

I don't understand the question.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@JimiSommer

Nobody should be obligated to help others.

I think for some children coercion at home is greater than at school. In some cases, however, that can be a result of school: parents forcing their children to do homework, study, spend less time doing what they enjoy, etc.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @M_T_Franz:
#CovidTest Es steckt ja eine gewisse Demütigung des Bürgers dahinter, wenn man ihm dauernd von Amts Wege mit Stäbchen in den…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@LifeMdcrDIAgnt @AstronomydaiIy

Why would we be insignificant?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @Anthea06274890:
Shooting at Oakland CA Juneteenth celebrations last night, leave 1 dead and 5 injured. This is how people reacted when…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

I've been saying from the start of the pandemic that one (of the few) silver linings is the reduced coercion imposed on kids. (That's assuming the coercion in school is in fact greater than the coercion at home.) twitter.com/LPNH/status/14…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

I suppose “confirmed” is a little better than “proven”. But when will science communicators pick up Popper’s “corroborated”? twitter.com/SPACEdotcom/st…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@SPortoghesi @DavidDeutschOxf

Problems are soluble. Society is not a zero-sum game. People can be free without enslaving others.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@__adamjohnson_

We shouldn’t so much care about that notion of logically when talking about physical theories

Brains are physical. Brains in vats, even when running AGIs, are not universal constructors.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@__adamjohnson_

But yeah if an AGI is tractably programmable within Minecraft and gets a suitable body then I suppose the answer to my original question is "yes".

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@__adamjohnson_

I think it's technically possible to create an AGI within Minecraft since one can build universal computers within Minecraft, but I'm not sure how easily those computers are programmed. I'm too much of a noob to the game to know for now.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@__adamjohnson_

It will need outputs to interact with the Minecraft world around it.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@__adamjohnson_

Morals or not, it doesn't change that logically the "so" in step 3 is false.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@Kaiwingchun

A universal constructor can transform anything into anything that the laws of physics allow, yes.

I want to build a machine in Minecraft that can transform anything into anything that the laws of Minecraft allow.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @CasuallyGreg:
This looks like a Sunday worship. What the hell is wrong with these people?

https://t.co/X2embUNXbt

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@__adamjohnson_

Brain in a vat by definition doesn't have any outputs so it couldn't persuade others to do things.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@tomhyde_

You're saying the player within Minecraft is already a universal constructor?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ks445599 @MagnetThatcher

Or, if you don't have Instagram and can't open that link, here's another example (albeit much less impressive): youtube.com/watch?v=OKhdHk…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ks445599 @MagnetThatcher

Here’s an example of automated transformations in Minecraft:

instagram.com/reel/CQT66pMlp…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@DorfGinger

Well they're all made of these "blocks" which, within the game, could be considered physical. And I believe on some level of emergence physicality has to be a given for construction, otherwise you can't make the blocks that make the blocks that make the blocks...

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@__adamjohnson_

The "so" in step 3 is false because AGIs are only universal constructors when they have suitable hardware. E.g. a brain/mind in a vat is an AGI but not a universal constructor.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ks445599 @MagnetThatcher

From what I understand you can set up blocks such that they cause certain transformations (I've seen videos of that).

Not familiar enough with the Star Trek replicator to comment on it.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@DorfGinger

Yeah you can build automated machines that cause transformations.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@Kaiwingchun

I don't want to simulate a universal constructor on a computer in Minecraft, I want a universal constructor in Minecraft.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@Kaiwingchun

I believe it is possible to build a universal computer inside Minecraft (they got switches and stuff), but that's not enough to make a universal constructor. It requires a specific kind of hardware.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @SJobs_Stories:
About web 2.0. "These web pages were built completely the second before I saw them [...], using the up-to-date informati…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@Kaiwingchun

Cool but does that have to do with constructors?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@MagnetThatcher

Cool but does that have to do with constructors?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

Could one, in principle, build a universal constructor in Minecraft?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

Happening now, @crit_rat's interview with Chiara Marletto at the @OxfordPopper society:

us02web.zoom.us/j/83249713249?…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@itsSaulGoodman @BreakingBad

When you see the double spaces in the text at the bottom you realize Junior couldn’t have written this, it must have been somebody older.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@AmirSobhi11 @spartanfan15 @GregAbbott_TX

Religion is mostly harmful and has little of value to offer. But if you want to live in a world without it, one of the last things you want to do is outlaw it. Forbidden fruit tastes sweeter. There’s another way: persuasion.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@AmirSobhi11 @spartanfan15 @GregAbbott_TX

No—ideas need to evolve freely and they can’t be outlawed anyway.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@HarveyRent @DavidDeutschOxf

Sums but not multiplication?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

Or maybe just imitation based on inborn criteria. twitter.com/SteveStuWill/s…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

The irony being that the same kind of people who advocate this kind of splitting of society always bitch about the "splitting" of society due to wealth and lack thereof. twitter.com/ThomasEWoods/s…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ks445599 @jwmares

Yes. Small proposed amendment: he should pick the one he thinks is the most relevant to society and that he would enjoy working on most.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@Neuro_Skeptic

"Men with more attractive partners have more interest in performing oral sex."

You don't say!

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@CrimeADay

Serious question: as a criminal defense lawyer, isn't it hard for you not to get cynical in light of all of these nonsensical laws?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @CrimeADay:
26 USC §5681(c) make it a federal crime to knowingly deliver grain to a distillery that doesn't have a sign posted with the…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @SpaceX:
Fairing deploy https://t.co/OPkHu3a2Bq

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @SpaceX:
Liftoff! https://t.co/7dan9aoOsa

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @FreeBlckThought:
This is one of our greatest fears about the new woke racialism.

If you compel white people to identify as a group, a…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@brbascript

Saul’s the best.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

So why did he decide to become a part of it? twitter.com/CerebralWisdom…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ClimateWarrior7

so brave and beautiful

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@realHelmchen @c_drosten @marcfriedrich7 @Karl_Lauterbach

Der Vergleich hinkt. Drosten hat eindeutig Einfluss auf die deutsche Corona-Politik.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@mgoldingmd @ks445599 @ChristleNwora

Guys you gotta try Tillamook “Peaches and Cream” ice cream. I didn’t know who I was until I tried it.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@c_drosten @marcfriedrich7 @Karl_Lauterbach

Gehen Sie doch bitte auf die Forderung nach dem Ende der Maskenpflicht ein, anstatt zu attackieren und Unwissenheit vorzuwerfen.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@Not_the_Bee

"I don't think it matters a whole lot in terms of the meeting we're going to have next." Jesus.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ClimateWarrior7 @ogletwirl @_SgurrUaran

It’s YOUR truth. That’s all that matters. You go girl!

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @ClimateWarrior7:
Five weeks to flatten the curve!

  • You may eat between 2pm and 4pm
  • Sex may occur in groups of up to 10 people max.…
@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ClimateWarrior7 @worxexell @_SgurrUaran

I honor your truth. I respect your womanhood.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ClimateWarrior7

The #UNWomen hashtag 😂

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ClimateWarrior7 @_SgurrUaran

I thought you were in berlin.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

What Malice puts so well reminds me of Lockheed Martin's very corporate response to Christopher Rufo's investigations into their critical-race-theory trainings:

https://t.co/EbAWAcdSpx

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

"When you see corporate anything, it's always unnatural [... it's] synthetic, phony earnestness." – Michael Malice

Yes. There are some exceptions. Apple's upper management used to be one. In the trenches Apple still is. But overall Malice is right.

youtube.com/watch?v=L9HqHz…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@nixcraft

LOL

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@tophlars @GregAbbott_TX

Common doesn't make right.

No, I'm not scared. I've explained what I'm saying.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@NevetsEel1 @HickeyAustin97 @GregAbbott_TX

It doesn't infer that. I'm making no claims, express or implied, about what the founding father wanted or didn't want.

Judging by many of the responses I got, people read all kinds of things into what I wrote that I didn't say or mean. Take what I wrote literally and soberly.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@Dust92 @GregAbbott_TX

False, I think Abbott should be free to practice religion in his private life all he wants. I tolerate that. I just don't think he should be using his political platform to spread religious memes.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@Dust92 @RoyMCohen @GregAbbott_TX

You do not get to demand people keep their religious views silent.

Again, when did I say that?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@FutureBuckNasty @DavidDeutschOxf

Why “decline”?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@NevetsEel1 @HickeyAustin97 @GregAbbott_TX

When did I make historical claims about what the founders wanted and didn’t want?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@RuthlessLatinX @GregAbbott_TX

I’m saying he shouldn’t quote bible verses on his political platform where people come to read about his politics.

Elsewhere, and separately from his political platform, he can quote bible verses all he wants, I don’t care.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@Dust92 @JeremyW33138778 @GregAbbott_TX

It means church shouldn’t meddle with politics and politics shouldn’t meddle with church.

Abbott using his political platform to tweet religious memes meets church meddling with politics.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@Dust92 @GregAbbott_TX

No, that’s not what I’m pretending. You need to understand my position better before you can argue against it.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @CrimeADay:
Textually speaking, it’s ok if it’s not your cat. twitter.com/justreaddathin…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@JeremyW33138778 @DSmerkous @GregAbbott_TX

You're drawing distinctions that don't matter. Abbott shouldn't tweet about god or "the lord" or whatever you want to call it.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@RuthlessLatinX @GregAbbott_TX

That doesn't imply that Abbott shouldn't be able to quote bible verses.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ReneBon69069180 @GregAbbott_TX

Argument from intimidation doesn't work on me.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@JeremyW33138778 @DSmerkous @GregAbbott_TX

Why couldn't David deny god? What you consider evidence of god's presence others consider evidence of something else.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@tophlars @GregAbbott_TX

He used a platform he frequently uses to tweet about politics to share his religious beliefs. It's conflating two things that should be kept strictly separate. He's free to worship, but people might too easily think his politics and religion inform each other.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@RuthlessLatinX @GregAbbott_TX

U dont want abbot to be able to quote bible verses.

Quote where I said this?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ReneBon69069180 @GregAbbott_TX

Convincingly argued

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@RuthlessLatinX @GregAbbott_TX

Your "LatinX" thing makes me think you're a woke leftist FYI.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@RuthlessLatinX @GregAbbott_TX

When did I say I want to get rid of the constitution?
And what do you think I want "with this"?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@RuthlessLatinX @Reecespuffs14 @HickeyAustin97 @GregAbbott_TX

I'm not a leftist FYI. And I'm not saying he shouldn't be able to say it. I'm saying he shouldn't say it; that he should keep religion on his doorstep.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@RuthlessLatinX @GregAbbott_TX

If that really is the original meaning, "separation of church and state" has come to mean something that goes both ways. Religion should stay out of politics. Abbott should keep it at home.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@JeremyW33138778 @GregAbbott_TX

all sessions of the Senate have been opened with prayer

Is that true? If so, that's messed up.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

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