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
I’m afraid this isn’t so. Children are tortured every day in schools to learn to systematically ignore their own preferences: blog.dennishackethal.com/posts/the-true…
If it’s that important for people to get vaccinated, why not just persuade them? If the virus really is as dangerous as you say, it should be pretty easy to persuade others, no?
Btw I think “vast swaths” is an exaggeration. The data published so far on deaths is questionable because I hear they count deaths with COVID as deaths of COVID.
In any case, the vast, vast, vast majority of people recover just fine after catching it.
The interdependence you describe is voluntary, whereas forcing people to vaccinate isn’t.
If someone purposefully infects others that isn’t okay, but I don’t think that warrants forced vaccines. And those who are worried are, again, free to get the vaccine, stay home, etc.
The unvaccinated don’t threaten others with a lockdown. Governments do.
And it isn’t anyone’s responsibility to keep hospital capacity at a certain level, nor can he be forced to provide it or pay with his job/money/life/freedom. His life isn’t a debt to others.
RT @jakeshieldsajj:
I don’t care who you vote for but if you are in California help save the state and vote yes on recall @GavinNewsom
[…] we should probably also ask you to leave […]
Asking is fine. But the unvaccinated are free to respond ‘no’. You’re free to avoid them, of course, by staying home if you like.
Since you’ll be a breeding ground for variants […]
There are ppl who have claimed that it’s the vaccinated who create selection pressure for variants…
I can’t tell if you’re joking or serious. In case you’re serious:
That should be up to each individual hospital. And who says I won’t get the vaccine?
There is an alternative to force: persuasion. Biden doesn’t mention persuasion. He speaks only of “requirements”.
RT @ClimateWarrior7:
More people found outside illegally in the Democratic People’s Republic of Australia.
The glorious people’s governmen…
A good comment on my blog: blog.dennishackethal.com/posts/a-compre…
Translation: ‘Force your employees or you will be forced to force them.’ twitter.com/disclosetv/sta…
Important to note that the same incompetence extends to the police, military, and legal system…
Hunting presumably requires lots of running, so if that were true, shouldn’t it be easier to think while running than walking?
Geez, did they not restore the two domes of Gendarmenmarkt all those years?
It’ll be 978-1-8384986-0-3 but the paperback is not available for pre-order, only the ebook. Will let you know once it’s out.
RT @ClimateWarrior7:
Not wearing his mask correctly at all times.
Fortunately the police stepped in to enforce liberal progressive democra…
RT @YasMohammedxx:
Some good news on your timelines for a change! Four Arab girls, all used to be hidden away under hijab and niqab, are al…
Ah yes, first climate change helps Covid spread, now this. twitter.com/CBSNews/status…
RT @DavidDeutschOxf:
Mein Buch 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘽𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛 𝙄𝙣𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮 erscheint demnächst auf Deutsch unter dem Titel 𝘿𝙚𝙧 𝘼𝙣𝙛𝙖𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙐𝙣𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙝𝙠𝙚𝙞𝙩.
Jet…
@apriori0x @crit_rat
Genes are natural yet they have achieved near permanence. “Immortal coils” as Dawkins calls them, IIRC.
RT @HasnainKazim:
Las gerade „Taliban:innen“ und kann nicht aufhören zu lachen. Danke für diesen Superwitz!
I think lots of ppl are ever since Rogan brought it up on his podcast ~1 year ago.
As laughable as a joke. It’s a creationist mindset—“no need to solve problems, let’s just legislate them away!”
Entrenching errors instead of fixing them. twitter.com/MichaelPSenger…
RT @SJobs_Stories:
“All we were going to lose is our cars and our shirts off our back. We had nothing to lose ! And we had everything to ga…
RT @SJobs_Stories:
“It sounds really simplistic but it still shocks me how few people actually practice this - and it’s a struggle to pract…
But I don’t agree that it’s aggressive violence.
Why not? Does it not match my definition/did you find something wrong with my definition?
‘Every single person’ isn’t hyperbolic in this context for the same reason that ‘every single murder is wrong’ isn’t.
Anyway, I’m in agreement this is an excessive threat to an unethical law.
Do you mean “by” instead of “to”?
I wasn’t being hyperbolic nor was it “bait”.
Many get to keep their jobs after refusing to do unethical things because, say, they’re not alone and the employer can’t afford to fire them.
Wealthy people aren’t our “lords”, the comparison to those times doesn’t work.
RT @liberty_deity:
Particularly important to ask in this age of “experts,” “fact-checkers,” and “trusted sources.” https://t.co/CASIhpxFJR
The dog one could be real since dogs jump that way anyway when jumping through tall grass: youtube.com/watch?v=mSn1PE…
So maybe all the dog had to do was apply that same inborn jumping motion to other contexts.
“wealthy freeloaders”?? They’re the ones paying taxes while you get paid with tax money!
More violence against Australia’s citizens. twitter.com/MichaelPSenger…
For clarity, I mean actually victimless not perceived to be victimless.
All cops should refuse to enforce immoral laws. All IRS officers should quit. Every single person with a shred of a conscience working in ‘public’ service should quit simply for being paid with blood money.
This account has a lot of good material about buggy cats. twitter.com/wwwithyourcat/…
If real, this is quite fascinating. Cats’ imitation algorithms seem to have much greater reach than I thought. twitter.com/wwwithyourcat/…
OK fair enough, I’ve changed my mind about animal intelligence. This cat is clearly intelligent. twitter.com/_Islamicat/sta…
Right. Victimless crimes aren’t crimes. It’s one of the many reasons there shouldn’t be laws against drug use or prostitution.
In the particular case of AUS the government uses aggressive force against people who just want to travel or go work out, which is peaceful behavior.
Much of that is inexplicit for me but it’s something like: defensive force is force that attempts to fend off aggressive force; aggressive force is force initiated against the peaceful.
RT @galexybrane:
If you’re vaccinated and you don’t mind the idea of vaccine passports, think about how you’ll feel when you need to show p…
A bold move. If the referendum passes it would set a precedent totalitarians could point at and say “see it’s what the people want”. Is there no better way, such as suing for infringement of freedom-of-movement rights?
It’s not the delta scariant that thwarts people’s plans but governments. twitter.com/Breakbadquotes…
Also, if you think that having nervous systems and families and sex and what not are all indicative of consciousness then you seem to be drawing a line for animals that do not have those things. Like unicellular organisms that reproduce through division.
Having read Deutsch you’ll know that due to computational universality the hardware differences do not matter. We know that we could build a universal computer out of chewing gum and tooth picks and program it to be conscious (if we knew how).
[…] families, predators, or a need to find food, safety, or sexual partners.
Why would those things indicate consciousness? Video-game characters can have all those things and they’re not conscious.
Cameras are not eyes.
Right, but eyes are cameras.
Robots do not have brains […]
They do, their computers are their brains.
[…] nervous systems […]
They have wires going to their computers that process signals just like nervous systems.
[…] emotions […]
Exactly!
@AstralKing7 @Der_Prometheus @RichardDawkins
I’m guessing my arguments frustrate you because I have a radically different view that you don’t like and I’m not willing to back down through intimidation as many have tried. This again frustrates you and you’re confusing that with me being ‘dishonest’ or ‘passive aggressive’.
@AstralKing7 @Der_Prometheus @RichardDawkins
For example, I never accused you of being dishonest (which is pretty talk for calling someone a liar), or insane, or passive aggressive. But you accused me those things. So it’s reasonable to say I’m being more courteous than you.
@AstralKing7 @Der_Prometheus @RichardDawkins
No, and I agree that people should not personally identify with their arguments or be taken aback when they’re refuted. But that doesn’t mean it’s okay to insult ppl, nor does it cover the extent of how aggressive you’ve been toward me, nor have you refuted my arguments.
@AstralKing7 @Der_Prometheus @RichardDawkins
Another accusation. And it’s false (again): I don’t believe I’ve said or done anything you accuse me of, including being disingenuous, dishonest, or passive aggressive.
So you don’t want to move on from this, I take it?
300 police using the threat of defensive force […]
They’re using aggressive force. That there’s a law doesn’t make it defensive. These are moral considerations, not just legal ones. (And it’s going to be 800 soon apparently. :()
@AstralKing7 @Der_Prometheus @RichardDawkins
We can move on from this and just focus on the topic of animal sentience, I just ask that you extend the same courtesy as I to you by staying on an objective and sober level.
@AstralKing7 @Der_Prometheus @RichardDawkins
Here your emoji signifies you think I’m stupid twitter.com/AstralKing7/st…
@AstralKing7 @Der_Prometheus @RichardDawkins
You’re sneaky about it so you have plausible deniability. For example, in this tweet, you imply that I’m self-centered: twitter.com/AstralKing7/st… Same in this tweet twitter.com/AstralKing7/st… but with greater deniability. Here twitter.com/AstralKing7/st… you’re implying that I’m insane.
Apprehending a murder, for example, might require physical violence.
Absolutely, which is why I specified aggressive force. Apprehending a murder is an example of defensive force.
Again, robots use cameras as eyes that produce much the same evidence and you’ve agreed that robots aren’t conscious. So the fact that dogs have eyes which they use to navigate the world cannot mean they’re conscious.
What is the purpose of the nerve signals produced by eyes?
To provide evidence which helps to navigate the world. That navigation can be automated, for example using path-finding algorithms, as Elliot Temple once pointed out to me, no consciousness required.
Animal eyes produce a visual awareness […]
Again, no, not in dogs or in humans.
Your genes answer applies to you and me as much as it applies to dogs.
Sort of. The blog post you don’t want to read explains why it’s a bit different for people.
Dogs are not robots […]
Evidence?
@AstralKing7 @Der_Prometheus @RichardDawkins
You even say here twitter.com/AstralKing7/st… that “[s]elf-awareness is not required for consciousness” and arguably body awareness is part of self-awareness so I’m not sure why you bring it up here.
@AstralKing7 @Der_Prometheus @RichardDawkins
The fact is, my dog is skilled at doing this thing that requires both intent and body awareness.
Nothing your dog does requires intent or body awareness (not in the conscious, sentient sense). As evidence consider that robots could be programmed to do everything your dog does.
And the legal threat of that force isn’t violence (imo).
Right, I think that’s where we disagree. Though, to be clear, I wasn’t talking just about the threat of force, but also applied (aggressive) force.
I could argue it’s not […]
Doubtful.
Your wanting to update Popper’s criteria with something (we both agree) govt should not do.
I thought you disagreed. You seemed to defend governments’ violent treatment of citizens.
But that’s a LONG list.
It’s just one thing.
Why do [dogs] have [eyes], then?
Again it’s because genes that coded for eyes spread through the population. And that could be because navigating the world is useful. But you don’t need consciousness for navigating the world, self-driving cars and other robots can do it too.
Why do our eyes produce seeing, an experience […]
They produce neither. They only produce nerve signals. The seeing and experiencing part happens wholly inside our brains.
[…] but dog eyes don’t?
Same blog post.
…, thereby increasing the injured dog’s genes’ survival rate.
Why did pain only evolve in us?
I believe I have pointed to a blog post explaining this but you don’t want to read my posts.
What are the other reasons for a dog’s yelp when he is injured?
The main reason dogs yelp is that genes that coded for yelping spread through the population. One reason for this, in turn, could be that other dogs are programmed to come and help when they hear a dog yelping…
@AstralKing7 @Der_Prometheus @RichardDawkins
But insulting me repeatedly isn’t disingenuous of you?
Because the same behavior can be caused by infinitely many conflicting reasons. You seem to draw the the same line (albeit at a different spot) when you limit it to mammals btw. Hence my question…
@AstralKing7 @Der_Prometheus @RichardDawkins
I believe I do. I scrolled up and found several instances of me responding to your points.
The point is that at least one of us is wrong on the matter and we don’t know which one and a refutation of my views would show that you’re right and I’m wrong.
RT @matthewdmarsden:
Just stop with the “ seatbelt” analogy. It’s ridiculous.
Not at all, feel free to do that anywhere, anytime!
RT @ZubyMusic:
In San Francisco, you can shoot heroin in public, poo on the street, and shoplift freely.
But you can’t go to the gym with…
RT @trutsle:
Wait a minute i thought women made less. https://t.co/YxdzjauG8Y
Some pointers on how to do it: courses.aynrand.org/works/how-does…
So if it’s for law enforcement it’s not violence? For example, if a parliament passes a law stating that people who are out and about for ‘non-essential’ reasons should be shot on sight, you don’t consider that violence?
@AstralKing7 @Der_Prometheus @RichardDawkins
Then I guess I’m a sloppy writer! Do you have an actual refutation of my views?
RT @Jediphone:
@DavidDeutschOxf
Astronomical engineering - quite a conjecture!
RT @ThomasEWoods:
This sure sounds like people with super-duper confidence in the vaccines
@AstralKing7 @Der_Prometheus @RichardDawkins
“this” = what I wrote above or Deutsch’s books?