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
@WorriedDenizen @paulg @computerfact
By saying that changes to programming languages are targeted I didn’t mean those languages are narrow. They can express everything natural languages can express.
Re aliens, you can simply ask yourself why there should be any limit to how much better their language could be.
@WorriedDenizen @paulg @computerfact
Tradeoffs: yes but that doesn't change that some programming languages are better than others, if that's what you're saying. In a way, it implies it. Can't use a hammer for a screw, but hammers really are better for nails than screwdrivers.
@WorriedDenizen @paulg @computerfact
I think changes to programming languages are much more targeted and on purpose (and often also faster) than changes to natural languages. But that's not to say that our natural languages today aren't way better than our ancestors' grunts.
@WorriedDenizen @paulg @computerfact
Yes, because new programming languages often express new modes of programming. Compared with languages from the fifties our languages today really are a lot better.
Programming languages that evolve for long enough could become so different they’re different languages. Just like Italian is a different language from Latin today.
How balanced! She only wants to take away some liberties, not all! And she even admits that democracy is about taking away liberties. Jesus. twitter.com/BuffyWicks/sta…
RT @ClimateWarrior7:
I think the UK should declare war on 1/3rd of its own adults. Set the army on them if necessary.
There's probably on…
RT @aginnt:
No, this isn’t satire; this isn’t from a horror movie.
This is Australia.
twitter.com/LHatesYouALot/…
Don’t lots of women do that? Think award ceremonies in particular…
Maybe you’ll find troughs and peaks in the flavor landscape. Maybe you’ll find patterns that let you describe the entire landscape. You’ll know where your personal flavor peaks are and maybe people can then create those foods, or point you to foods that create those peaks for you
Or, if there are too many tastes to explore them one by one, use an ‘evolutionary’ algorithm: pick random flavors and evaluate them by assigning a score. Then discard the worst ones, vary the best ones and repeat.
You could iterate through all possible flavors a tongue can detect just like you can iterate through all possible colors a screen can display. So you could iterate through tastes to see which taste good.
This is amazing. Imagine sampling a restaurant's menu items from home for free. Or using this to create new flavors and then to create the foods that match those flavors.
gizmodo.com/this-lickable-…
Implication: things could be worse. An injustice isn’t an injustice if it isn’t the worst injustice.
Parasites like the state and socialists? Yes, yes they do.
Let's see if French democracy can correct the errors these people are protesting. twitter.com/MichaelPSenger…
@DavidB90421320 @drdavidsamadi
Why is the onus on unvaccinated people to stay home instead of you?
RT @ravaz_raphael:
@drdavidsamadi
I am French and I am ready to fight on the frontlines and risk jail for going to a restaurant unvaccinate…
RT @newtypered:
@Blklivesmatter
Just when I thought this organization couldn’t get worse.
RT @liberty_deity:
How it started: “Two weeks to slow the spread!”
How it’s going:
“Goddammit Marie, it’s not a boat, it’s a yacht.”
There’s also a hyphen missing between “social” and “justice”. Or do they not do that on book covers?
@alex_sukhovey @JonNichEdwards @DavidDeutschOxf @iamFilos @ernsterlanson
You're saying consent limits free will? Isn't it the opposite?
RT @zackkanter:
I have no opinion on whether or not there’s a labor shortage, but I do appreciate arguments that can be applied to all sort…
Parts of the Anglosphere are looking very unlike it now. twitter.com/Leftylockdowns…
In at least one respect they are right: the concept of freedom, when taken seriously, is indeed incompatible with government. But I doubt that's what they mean.
""Freedom" and other anti-government slogans". twitter.com/nytimes/status…
@JonNichEdwards @DavidDeutschOxf @alex_sukhovey @iamFilos @ernsterlanson
I think people should be free to trade without governmental restriction. That includes buying and advertising "junk food".
RT @firstofequals:
This is your reminder that #CovidIsNotOver.
And when it is, we have a whole bunch of other crises ready to go, at interv…
RT @liberty_deity:
“How much does it all cost? Who pays for it? I do. I pay my taxes as a citizen; they use the money for their luxuries. P…
Expect to get more attention from women now. And know why.
RT @firstofequals:
It has come to our attention that 12 years of intense propaganda is not fully indoctrinating all of our youth. We are no…
RT @kelseyhightower:
Developers should be as afraid of GitHub Copilot as mathematicians are of calculators.
@LPMisesCaucus @michaelmalice @POTUS
To be clear, I mean voluntary for children. Having only private schools doesn’t mean parents can’t force their kids to go to them.
@LPMisesCaucus @michaelmalice @POTUS
And remember to make private education voluntary, too.
RT @michaelmalice:
@POTUS
Public schools are literal prisons for children and the only place many people will ever encounter physical viole…
RT @firstofequals:
Experts say that masks are safe and effective in preventing the spread of individualism.
RT @nixcraft:
Hello, How may I help you today with your IT problem? https://t.co/nF1sHzdry5
@quiethandfilms @BreakingBad @AMC_TV @BetterCallSaul
You really are a pillar of the community, Mr. Fring.
RT @firstofequals:
Little known fact: I do have a certain appreciation for your American ideas of government. When considering a new policy…
RT @CrimeADay:
Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball ga…
RT @firstofequals:
Ridiculous and shameful! You would never hear about such disasters under Socialism. twitter.com/LauraPidcock/s…
RT @diemauerthewall:
LENIN'S HEAD
The 3.5 tonne part was dismantled and transported away on November 13, 1991. The demolition of the entire…
@TrishtheDish_7 @MDRationalist @JenniferSey
7:05am?? Holy shit that’s early.
@lcom86 @multiprocessio @__akash__19 @brython3
Yes. In his defense, he did mention WASM eventually, but IMO it should have been his first answer: twitter.com/multiprocessio…
@multiprocessio @__akash__19 @brython3
"so you can run [those non-JS languages] entirely in the browser" is false because a JS interpreter that runs in the browser or a compiler that compiles to JS both result in JS running in the browser, not another language. OP asked if browsers can run other languages.
Well, when we stretch the meaning of “hunt” and “gather” this much, just about any behavior will fall into those categories.
Originally, “hunt” meant “kill animals for food and clothing”, and “gather” meant “look for berries”. Not “hunt” for that promotion or “gather” TV sets.
I see. And which of our behaviors isn’t governed by our genes? Do you see any room for humans being causal actors who do certain things because they want to rather than blindly executing their genes’ instructions?
Btw you’re ascribing fitness to individual humans but evolution is about replicators (genes, in this case) spreading more than their variants, not about individual organisms.
If our “hunter-gatherer genes” have so much power over us, how come I never feel like hunting or gathering?
RT @michaelmalice:
At this point masks serve the same purpose as school uniforms
@__adamjohnson_
Yes. Or, if the "homepod" cancels out sound even within the room (useful for sleeping next to someone who snores), you could wear a wristband or something that vibrates when the alarm (or doorbell) rings.
RT @SJobs_Stories:
"I don't think it's good that Apple is perceived as different. I think it's important that Apple is perceived as much be…
You could watch a war movie at 3am AT FULL BLAST without worrying about waking your neighbors. And they could do so, too, without waking you.
Ideally, it would create a sonar barrier, so that not only could noise from outside the room not come in, but no noise could leave the room, either. Result: privacy, quiet for everyone, no hardware changes to the room. Could be turned on and off at the flip of a switch.
I imagine it could work just like noise-canceling headphones: (from my very rough understanding) it would need to create sound waves that cancel out existing sound waves, except they wouldn't just travel through your ear, but through the entire room.
Idea: a device shaped like the homepod that cancels noise in the room it's in. Like noise-canceling headphones, except you don't need to wear anything. Would be great for sleeping in perfect silence.
Now train it on all Stack Overflow questions and answers. Type a comment in your text editor that describes a problem/question. Have the editor autocomplete the code for you, including the solution. Ideally adjusted to your unique problem situation. twitter.com/github/status/…
And proprietary... and nobody's business. ;)
@tonyhawk @AvrilLavigne @tiktok_us
Found you! “gleam a cube” https://t.co/g55lWi4Ehx
Yeah, that in itself would be something remarkable to have in common with aliens.
@thestoryofsaz @ClimateWarrior7
Are you seriously doubting this stunning person’s lived experience? smh
RT @firstofequals:
We need to have a conversation about #CriticalRaceTheory.
1/
RT @ThomasEWoods:
You see, he holds a balanced view of Stalin. Stalin was "neither savior nor saint." How fair and balanced of him!
RT @ClimateWarrior7:
Apparently I've got the wrong end of the stick. White History Month is about ending whiteness, not celebrating white h…
@Rose129roses @_Islamicat
Yea why wife not covered, is Haram
RT @micsolana:
“my body, my choice”
“i agree. people should not be forced to get a covid vaccinatation.”
“wait no not like that”
RT @quantumrekt:
@dchackethal @StefanoPortogh1 @tomhyde_ @SPortoghesi
wow i wanna be like dennis when I grow up :)
this is how we should t…
If they’re having fun looking at memes, it’s not a waste of time.
@clt_buzzcity @paulg
Pressure was high not to "doubt The Science (TM)".
Isn't there fun in everything that has problems?
Not quite, I think. It's in solving problems, not having problems. Having problems that are overwhelming or that one is not interested in solving can be the opposite of fun.
How could one ever 'realize' something like that?
One forms new theories about what one should do. People realize this all the time. I'd guess >90% of all people in cubicles do.
I is spy one half white in there. You is need to get pawternity test.
And once viewed through the Deutschian lens, an absence of problems wouldn't even be utopia—it'd be a nightmare. No more progress to be made, no more fun to be had. People would be miserable... which would be a problem. So the very concept of a utopia is inconsistent.
Probably the shortest blog post I've ever written:
RT @SwipeWright:
@FondOfBeetles @tranarchista @bigmarys @ButNotTheCity
Narrator: "But they were serious."
RT @FondOfBeetles:
@SwipeWright
I see you, and I raise you. twitter.com/tranarchista/s…
I see my mistake 😂
investopedia.com/terms/h/hodl.a… twitter.com/michaelmalice/…
Typo "hodl" in "I will hodl all the funds" on that page you linked.
Is there still any doubt that politics is downstream of culture? What a tool. twitter.com/NottheBee/st…
Love the capitalization of “Variant of Concern”
Different people communicate differently. The Western white cisheteronormative patriarchal way is not the only way to communicate peace and love. When will the bigots understand this?? smh
@MentalCasanova @michaelmalice
But it’s in Mexico… which has a government.