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
@Der_Prometheus @RichardDawkins
I agree: I don’t think the level of sophistication of a dog’s knowledge, say, tells us anything about whether it can suffer. (But the argument goes both ways!)
@Der_Prometheus @RichardDawkins
The best I’ve heard so far I believe originated with Peter Singer. Paraphrasing from poor memory: that smarts (or lack thereof) don’t determine whether an animal can suffer.
Again, do you agree that if animals aren’t sentient they can’t suffer, yes or no?
I beg to differ. (Though “dog treading water while hearing a tap” sounds like you did read my blog post.)
So there’s nothing anyone could say that would change your mind about animals being sentient, huh? What if those who believe animals are sentient are like flat earthers?
But what if you’re wrong? The post should be interesting even if you don’t share the conclusion. There are videos of dogs swimming mid-air! Could be fun.
Do you agree that if animals aren’t sentient they can’t suffer?
If animals are sentient then I agree they can suffer. I just don’t think they’re sentient, and so I conclude they can’t suffer.
Again, have you read my blog post? It contains an argument for why they may not be sentient.
What’s wrong with the idea that they don’t suffer? Would you like to read my blog post and see for yourself before you come to a conclusion? There may be things you or I haven’t thought of.
No, I’m not joking. And I wasn’t talking about pain but suffering. (I had a feeling it would have been better had Dawkins differentiated between the two more clearly.) Lastly, we shouldn’t judge ideas by source (“accredited biologist[s]”).
Doubtful animals suffer at all given how algorithmic they are: blog.dennishackethal.com/posts/buggy-do…
There is truth in almost every one of these statements. But I doubt people will take them seriously because they’re from children. Instead they’ll find them ‘cute’ or something. twitter.com/SteveStuWill/s…
RT @CrimeADay:
If Congress was a subscription service you would definitely cancel it.
It’s always good to know how one would change one’s own mind. We’re fallible: especially if we’re passionate about something and spending energy on it we should be prepared to question our convictions because we might be mistaken.
It isn’t profound. I’m guessing asking you to consider what it would take to convince you you’re (hypothetically) wrong about animal minds is asking you to think forbidden thoughts. The animal-rights community often uses intimidation to get people to care about animals.
The device is pointed at thousands of humans and it always shows ‘conscious’. It’s also pointed at thousands of animals and always shows ‘not conscious’. Would that convince you that animals aren’t conscious?
For example, imagine one day in the future ppl invent a device for determining consciousness in things. We have really good explanations of what consciousness is and how it works and how and why the device shows you whether something is conscious when you point the device at it.
I remember you saying that. What I’m looking for is something like: ‘if animals were found to do x, or if we found that animals work like y, then I would conclude that they’re not conscious.’ With specifics for what x or y is.
Indeed they are. Let me rephrase my question: What specific argument would convince you that non-human animals aren’t conscious?
But to answer you qu, I could possibly be convinced YOU aren’t conscious.
That doesn’t answer my question.
So what’s your point?
I’m just curious if there’s any way you’d change your mind about animals being conscious. This isn’t a challenge or anything, just a question.
And there’s nothing that would convince you that animals aren’t conscious while humans are?
RT @TheBabylonBee:
CDC Now Recommends Wearing A Seat Belt Even When You’re Outside The Car babylonbee.com/news/car-manuf…
@listene61181421 @astupple @Soph8B @DKedmey @DavidDeutschOxf
If error detection and correction is necessary but not sufficient for consciousness then there’s no conflict here.
RT @TheBembridge:
Who funds these bots, and why? https://t.co/0mbM648KW2
From his Conjectures and Refutations, 2002, Routledge, Abingdon, p. 11.
“The theory that truth is manifest—that it is there for everyone to see, if only he wants to see it—this theory is the basis of almost every kind of fanaticism. For only the most depraved wickedness can refuse to see the manifest truth […].” Karl Popper
New blog post: “Buggy Dogs”
@Soph8B @DKedmey @DavidDeutschOxf
Yes (though AGI is creative in that sense by definition).
@Soph8B @DKedmey @DavidDeutschOxf
If by “evolutionary process” you mean biological evolution, I don’t think anything in that list is conscious. Nor are those things creative in the sense humans are.
@Soph8B @DKedmey @DavidDeutschOxf
Above I said “consciousness results from creativity” (emphasis added), not that it is creativity: twitter.com/dchackethal/st…
@Soph8B @DKedmey @DavidDeutschOxf
Following Deutsch (paraphrasing here and mixed with my own thoughts) the capacity to be conscious is binary: one either has it or not. But we can be more conscious of some things than others. I’m more conscious (aware) of my computer right now than I am of my desk.
@listene61181421 @Soph8B @DKedmey @DavidDeutschOxf
From his Conjectures and Refutations, 2002, Routledge, Abingdon, p. 11.
@listene61181421 @Soph8B @DKedmey @DavidDeutschOxf
“The theory that truth is manifest—that it is there for everyone to see, if only he wants to see it—this theory is the basis of almost every kind of fanaticism. For only the most depraved wickedness can refuse to see the manifest truth […].” Karl Popper
@listene61181421 @Soph8B @DKedmey @DavidDeutschOxf
This isn’t about Popper or what you know about his ideas. What I’m getting at is that people disagree about what’s obvious, and that thinking something is obvious can be dangerous because it can lead one to think less of those who disagree.
@listene61181421 @Soph8B @DKedmey @DavidDeutschOxf
And since you admire Popper, you’ll know what his stance on “the obvious” was?
@listene61181421 @Soph8B @DKedmey @DavidDeutschOxf
You seem to be implying that people who disagree with you are not “intelligent, thoughtful”. Most people don’t want to be seen as unintelligent or thoughtless so this is an instance of the argument from intimidation: aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/argume…
@Soph8B @DKedmey @DavidDeutschOxf
I think consciousness results from creativity and only from creativity, so yes, if animals were shown to be creative, I’d have to change my mind about them being conscious.
@Soph8B @DKedmey @DavidDeutschOxf
OK. Not every non-conscious living human! Or else it would be OK to kill people in their sleep.
But irrevocably non-conscious… Although something in me feels uncomfortable saying it, I think so, yes. (“irrevocably” isn’t quite the right word but I can expand)
@Soph8B @DKedmey @DavidDeutschOxf
To be clear, “cull” = “kill”? (not a native speaker and dictionary is ambiguous on that term)
School was already dystopian pre Covid. But I agree Covid policies make things even worse.
@Soph8B @DKedmey @DavidDeutschOxf
Well, I think there are decent inexplicit ideas about what consciousness isn’t, and what animals do seems to fit that pretty well.
Re mental disability: if a bug is so severe it destroys the algorithm that gives rise to consciousness then that person isn’t conscious.
@DKedmey @Soph8B @DavidDeutschOxf
For me x is around 3, so if for a dog it were less that would be interesting—but it wouldn’t lead me to conclude that the dog could create explanatory knowledge.
@Soph8B @DKedmey @DavidDeutschOxf
I don’t know. Nobody does. But following Popper I’m guessing consciousness has something to do with being creative and particularly with error correction and disappointed expectations.
@Soph8B @DKedmey @DavidDeutschOxf
In other words, I make the same mistake as the dog, so whatever criterion it and I use may be inborn.
Then again, I just asked a couple of friends if they also feel like their skin is wet against cool air after they shave and they’ve never noticed it.
@Soph8B @DKedmey @DavidDeutschOxf
Sometimes when I shave for the first time in a while my face feels wet against cool air. I get fooled by that repeatedly but it goes away after a while. Would be interesting to know if the dog also stops ‘swimming’ over the AC after x repetitions.
@Soph8B @DKedmey @DavidDeutschOxf
I find this gif really interesting: giphy.com/gifs/cheezburg…
Apparently cold surroundings + not touching the ground is enough to trigger the swimming algorithm in dogs.
@Soph8B @DKedmey @DavidDeutschOxf
Videos like the one with the dog are tricky because somebody who already thinks animals are conscious (and smart etc) can easily consider such videos evidence of their consciousness, not lack thereof.
@Soph8B @DKedmey @DavidDeutschOxf
Some things animals do are so buggy that if they were conscious they’d surely realize their mistake. Like when dogs ‘swim’ in the air: youtube.com/watch?v=R8GQ0m…
Or when squirrels ‘bury’ nuts on non-soil floors: web.archive.org/web/2003102113…
(search for ‘squirrel’ and also ‘wasp’)
@DKedmey @Soph8B @DavidDeutschOxf
If the creative program is part meme, as DD conjectures toward the end of ch. 16 in BoI (p. 415), then babies need exposure to other people before becoming creative (and, therefore, conscious).
Though I personally don’t think creativity is part meme.
RT @TheBabylonBee:
Important mask guidance: https://t.co/YdgKGSoFLP
Good to hear you’re getting rid of subscriptions. Not gonna lie, I was a bit turned off at the idea of having to pay upfront before making any money on the platform.
I’d like to cancel my slip.so trial but I don’t see an option to do that anywhere…
RT @MrAndyNgo:
“F— antifa. F— you and Black Lives Matter!”
Cuban-Americans protesting at the White House curse at communist activist @wyat…
RT @realchrisrufo:
WINNING: 73% of American voters have been following the debate about critical race theory and believe it “will make race…
UNVACCINATED SNOW LEOPARDS ARE KILLING OUR GRANDMAS
You can now play Snake for free on my blog. Yes, you read that right: completely free! Pay it forward:
Confirmed. Just a mention that “Tunisia PM sacked after violent Covid protests” but nothing about Europe. But they do feature:
- “Bringing Afrobeats to Japan”
- “A Tibetan toothache cure like no other”
- “Face palm: The fight to get a new emoji made”
Quality reporting, @BBC. twitter.com/PeterSweden7/s…
RT @ClimateWarrior7:
PLEASE, if you are double-vaccinated, STAY AT HOME.
Double-vaccinated people are going to restaurants and concerts, s…
New blog post: “Violent Paternalism”
“wieso ist das überhaupt erlaubt”: blog.dennishackethal.com/posts/violent-…
Don’t underestimate the power of government regulation.
RT @ClimateWarrior7:
This is another advantage of the social credit score. People can be rewarded not only for taking vaccines but also for…
RT @michaelmalice:
why did you crop out your straitjacket twitter.com/aliceperryuk/s…
But mu could be good for when scientists and experts find that cows that catch the ‘rona also get mad cow disease. Because those things are totally related. Because of The Science.
RT @ClimateWarrior7:
What are the scariest Greek letters? I think we should definitely have a gamma variant. Not really any point bothering…
RT @RonShamgar:
#lockdownprotest Sydney https://t.co/3gqnhg2NuI
“Moral of the story: be thankful that you don’t live in the dystopian nightmare that is Australia.” twitter.com/NottheBee/st…
RT @jayjoseph22:
1/ Suppose a team of researchers conclusively proves that all children who eventually develop “highly heritable” autism ha…
What was that thing about democracy being about being able to get rid of pad policies without violence? twitter.com/ElectionWiz/st…
“But without government, who would make sure people stay safe and healthy?” twitter.com/w0ngd0Me1n/s…
Oooh Billie red nuts is gonna go on his soap box for this! Can’t wait.
@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.”