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

@MagnetThatcher

[W]ould that be another example of mindless copying.

Yes. Transmission of animal memes does not require creativity. See eg Byrne's behavior parsing.

How do we distinguish?

By asking whether an ability can or cannot be inborn.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@MagnetThatcher

No, it's that we're born not knowing how to walk. Children learn to walk themselves. (There are other considerations re animals such as physical maturing but that's the long and short of it.)

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@MagnetThatcher

Walking, riding a bike, depth perception, navigating familiar surroundings, playing a song you've practiced to perfection...

Basically any ability you've learned and more or less mastered so now you don't need creativity anymore to execute it.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@MagnetThatcher

But the mechanism by which memes spread is creativity. Even a 100% static society with ~zero originality consists of creative people. A cuttlefish couldn't replicate those memes.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@MagnetThatcher

And much of what humans do cannot be inborn. Which is why I asked in the beginning:

Why couldn't that ability be entirely inborn and then executed mindlessly?

That's usually the single question any serious evaluation of allegedly intelligent animal behavior boils down to.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@MagnetThatcher

No. Creativity has nothing to do with taking on colors from the environment, not in degree nor principle.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

Interesting to contrast this with optical illusions where you can decide when to see what. E.g. a while back I saw a picture of two buildings and one could decide which building was in the foreground. Finding out what the difference is could be important.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@MagnetThatcher

What is telling the cuttlefish whether it is getting the correct pattern or not?

Some inborn criterion to compare against. 'Ground truth' in that case supplied by environment + criterion.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

Eine Regierung sollte nicht in der Lage sein, einer App einfach so mit einer "Abschaltung" zu drohen. twitter.com/ZStadtfux/stat…

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@PR0GRAMMERHUM0R

I think an argument could be made that programmers can be partially better writers because they're trained to find elusive typos.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@_victor_UwU @ResNeXtGuesser

That's assuming evo psych is true. It isn't. People have ideas about what's scary and what isn't which they create themselves. They don't just inherit those ideas genetically.

Some people find the 'uncanny' in the uncanny valley interesting, worthy of study, not scary at all.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@MagnetThatcher

If it were inborn I would expect it to copy it faithfully with little effort.

Compare certain 'AI' algorithms that recognize numbers. Takes lots of training and readjusting. Inborn != effortless.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@MagnetThatcher

How can an organism have an [ability] to imitate a pattern or shape that it hasn't been naturally selected for?

Its 'pattern-emulation' algorithm may have reach (Deutsch).

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@MagnetThatcher

Why couldn't that ability be entirely inborn and then executed mindlessly?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

Evidence that knowledge is autonomous: you can't just will it into existence or will it away.

I first saw the dog, then the face, then the dog again. Face is elusive. twitter.com/ResNeXtGuesser…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @libsoftiktok:
Spotted at Ohio State University 🤡 pic.twitter.com/HHusXS4W84

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RT @CommunistTerror:
"A Woman In Berlin" has apparently been banned by the current Russian government. It is a diary written by a 34 year-…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @ThomasSowell:
There has never been a shortage of people eager to draw up blueprints for running other people’s lives.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@libsoftiktok

Scientific American stopped being scientific a while ago: blog.dennishackethal.com/posts/scientif…

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@reitschuster

Wichtig im Hinterkopf zu behalten, dass solche Menschen fest davon überzeugt sind, dass sie Gutes tun. Auch wenn es für uns irre klingt.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@chillywillers

They also want to trick you into climate lockdowns by making climate change a health issue.

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RT @ClimateWarrior7:
We could potentially save several lives per year if safety helmets were mandatory in schools at all times.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@butcherbox

If this is what the people at @butcherbox think is good security practice I'm worried about my account information. And you should be, too.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@butcherbox

It's like displaying a password to you in plain text and then asking you to paste it for "security purposes". Makes no sense. If they're talking to an attacker then they just displayed the password to the attacker.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

Perhaps even more annoying than @butcherbox's incessant use of the word 'sustainability' is their practice of first displaying your phone number and email address to you when you start a support chat and then asking you to repeat that same information for "security purposes".

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @Paolo1264:
A West German man shows his son the other side of the Berlin Wall (1961). pic.twitter.com/XUJrrhVW9T

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@heiditheblogger @ANothlich

Bedient sich trotzdem so einiger kollektivistischer Motive, die in einer wirklich freiheitlichen Partei nichts zu suchen hätten.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @PR0GRAMMERHUM0R:
Didn't even know why they gave the invitation in the first place reddit.com/r/programmerhu… pic.twitter.com/CsjV1OPJZn

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@libsoftiktok

Maia doesn’t feel safe! Quick, somebody call the police!

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

A society that really, I mean really respects property rights needs no explicit right for weapon ownership such as the second amendment: that right simply falls out of property rights, which the forced confiscation of weapons breaks.

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RT @aginnt:
German protestors demonstrating against the COVID police state push back the police. pic.twitter.com/6J3WF9ReOX

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @aginnt:
Austria stands up today.

From Innsbruck👇🏼
twitter.com/RadioGenova/st…

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@ClimateWarrior7

People of queerness = POQ
BIPOC = bisexual people of queerness

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

And git revert would be extremely useful.

See also: blog.dennishackethal.com/posts/a-progra… twitter.com/PR0GRAMMERHUM0…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

Schnell, alle Läden zwangsschließen und Leute zu Hause einsperren! twitter.com/argonerd/statu…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @aginnt:
This weekends protest in Paris against COVID law was so big the police couldn’t stop it. pic.twitter.com/EAXCVYgx4d

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@meaningfulideas @aniketvartak

What mindset is that?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @aginnt:
Paris continues its six-month straight weekend protest against vaxx mandates unafraid and as strong as ever. https://t.co/7FjBR…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@aniketvartak @meaningfulideas

Possible, yes. And yes Twitter sucks for discussions.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

Devastating. The sense of entitlement to men's attention, that is. twitter.com/thetimes/statu…

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@HelloPurgatory @MinistryofTru16

Didn't that hurt the Indian?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

You really can't criticize professional fear monger @PaulREhrlich enough. twitter.com/HumanProgress/…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @aginnt:
Zurich stands up to COVID authoritarianism today. pic.twitter.com/vxg9x8g1VI

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @aginnt:
Huge anti-COVID law protests breakout again all across Germany this weekend.

Karlsruhe today.
pic.twitter.com/pED7xteJoZ

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @reitschuster:
Früher waren Grundrechte der unantastbare Wesenskern unseres Grundgesetzes.
Heute nutzt sie der Staat als Druckmittel, u…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @ElijahSchaffer:
Isn’t tyranny so cute and totally fun OMG 🤩😍 pic.twitter.com/0TSo7DviVW

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @aginnt:
The anti-COVID mandate resistance in Vienna marches today. pic.twitter.com/atVABDn6p0

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@meaningfulideas

You're taking an important idea (children are not free) and then turning it into SJW nonsense used to make ppl less free. Also the second sentence is invalid grammatically.

A child who is BIPOC [...] the systemic oppression we face is that much more intense.

wut?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @philthatremains:
Soviet levels of propaganda pic.twitter.com/OEIaIm99wV

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @reitschuster:
«Leider bin ich intellektuell zu schlicht gestrickt, ich habe immer noch nicht begriffen was "rechts" mit Coronamaßnahmen…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @firstofequals:
No worker should make less than the average wage. #FightFor30

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @reitschuster:
Österreich fordert „tätige Reue“ von Impf-Verweigerern.
Ungeimpfte, die keine Strafe wollen, sollen sich „herausimpfen“.…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @aginnt:
The Netherlands in 2022. twitter.com/Eastern_Freedo…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@NickHudsonCT

evil stuff

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @reitschuster:
In funktionierenden Demokratien ist es kein Problem, wenn jemand eine Impfung kritisiert.
Im "besten Deutschland aller Z…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@BetterCallSaul

We're watching you for a release date!!

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @aginnt:
How large are the weekly protest against COVID restrictions in Germany?

Düsseldorf this weekend. pic.twitter.com/EHN6vxouL8

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @aginnt:
An authoritarian pathology is controlling our democratically elected leaders.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @ClimateWarrior7:
This is scientific. It even says "science" at the top in big red letters. That's how you know it's science.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @ryanlongcomedy:
Breaking News: Your Should Still Be Very Afraid pic.twitter.com/A4mdQJsyUb

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @aginnt:
An older woman in Germany is a threat to society because she breaks unscientific COVID law. twitter.com/Inkognito1117/…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

‘But without government, who’d beat the scary ‘rona out of people??’ twitter.com/ClimateWarrior…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @aginnt:
What COVID democracy looks like in Europe. pic.twitter.com/QRPgJRyXOW

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@bnielson01

These scientists are going against THE SCIENCE (TM).

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

When personal responsibility is exactly what they want you to negate by acting in the interest of the collective. twitter.com/ThomasEWoods/s…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @ClimateWarrior7:
Rest assured, they are all being beaten and savaged by dogs perfectly legally.

These people were outside, and it's il…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @ClimateWarrior7:
Imagine living in 2100 when the sea level has gone up 100 metres on the US East Coast and only 30 metres on the West C…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @aginnt:
Amsterdam living under the thumb of “public health”.

From today. pic.twitter.com/n1FqABqoEQ

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @aginnt:
An unbelievable turnout today in Amsterdam to end lockdowns and COVID law. pic.twitter.com/lDnLU05uvi

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @reitschuster:
Frage an die Polizei (nicht nur) in #Amsterdam: Wie weit seid Ihr bereit zu gehen? Werdet Ihr auch schießen, wenn ein Sch…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @ClimateWarrior7:
Great news for unvaccinated Italians. Now some of them will starve to death.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @aginnt:
Huge protests break out all across Germany on New Years to end COVID restrictions.

Koblenz, Germany tonight👇🏼
https://t.co/yQv…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @diemauerthewall:
Press kit regarding PAN AM's inaugural first direct flight New York to Berlin on May 30, 1964.
#Berlin #PanAmerican #T…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @therealrukshan:
It is being reported that a man distressed by vaccine mandates has set himself and his car on fire in Victoria, Austral…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @hubertus_knabe:
@secondhanduser

Da unterschätzen Sie den wissenschaftlich-technischen Fortschritt im #Sozialismus! https://t.co/6K75dJF…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @hubertus_knabe:
Mein Vorsatz für 2022: Mehr Nachhaltigkeit im Alltag!
#neuesjahr #Neujahrsvorsatz pic.twitter.com/Lhi8GKka9o

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @dvassallo:
Work-life balance has almost nothing to do with how many hours you work, but whether it's your work that fits within your pr…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @ClimateWarrior7:
Rugged individualism is white supremacy in its purest and most genocidal form. pic.twitter.com/WyrXtSBs56

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @TheBabylonBee:
Unvaccinated Man Feeling Left Out As All His Vaccinated Friends Have COVID babylonbee.com/news/unvaccina…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @aginnt:
The Munich mayor bans COVID protests. Here is how the people responded. pic.twitter.com/Ltf3EQNp42

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

So schlimm wie in der DDR ist es wohl (noch) nicht, aber es ist schlimm genug. twitter.com/rebew_lexa/sta…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @ClimateWarrior7:
Science, science, why have you forsaken me?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

Which was worse, new matrix or don’t look up?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @Jonas_Hermann:
Kanzler Olaf Scholz hält Rechtsextreme für die grösste Bedrohung. Die Zahlen der Bundesanwaltschaft ergeben ein ganz and…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @aginnt:
Germans continue to protest tonight against looming lockdowns and vaxx mandates. pic.twitter.com/U9skZojO8S

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @ANothlich:
Würde man die Menschen massiv auf Herpes testen und jeden positiv getesteten Toten einen Herpes-Sterbefall nennen, könnten w…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

What could go wrong? twitter.com/guardian/statu…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @ClimateWarrior7:
Sorry but if you've caught covid, you've done something wrong. You broke social distancing rules or didn't wear enough…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@PeterAttiaMD

It’s bad. I don’t recommend it. I mentally hold it in a separate category from the other three so as not to ruin the memory.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

“[M]an kann ja das Einhalten von Abständen am besten gewährleisten, indem man die Menschen auf möglichst engem Raum zusammentreibt.”

💯 twitter.com/reitschuster/s…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

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