Opinionhaver. Articles at Law & Liberty, American Conservative, Aleteia, Crisis, Commonweal & https://xitter.cf/t.co/xEBFFJtYe2. Not one of the other James Heaneys. Acts 20:9.
Twin Cities, MN
Joined April 2009
- Tweets3.3K
- Following557
- Followers428
- Likes6.9K
James Heaney retweeted
Important corrective, I see this a lot.
It's true the Trust Fund was borrowed & spent & replaced with IOUs from the Treasury, not stored as cash in a vault somewhere or put in risky investments.
But the looming cliff is *when even the IOUs run out*. The IOUs are being honored.
"Raiding" the Social Security Trust Fund didn't speed up the insolvency of SS.
The current problems are the result of
1) The design of SS
2) The 1972 law setting a generous inflation rate
3) Boomers didn't have enough kids.
washingtonexaminer.com/in_fo…
James Heaney retweeted
On AI consciousness: I am a substance dualist and I think it is very implausible that current AIs or anything with similar architecture can be conscious. But, partly because of these views, if you had asked me ten years ago to predict AI progress -- and I was following developments like AlphaGo with interest at that time -- I would not have predicted anything like current progress. I thought superhuman intelligence without consciousness was impossible or at least extremely difficult. I don't think that now.
If (like me) you do not think AIs are conscious, ask yourself whether your skepticism made you underestimate the rate of AI progress. If so this suggests something in your beliefs needs revision. It may not be AI consciousness but you should probably be revising some of your views in philosophy of mind or adjacent areas (like the nature of human thought or language). I have some inchoate thoughts along these lines but haven't worked them out to my satisfaction.
James Heaney retweeted
Michael C. Munger revisits the debate over zoning and development, considering how communities can preserve meaningful local input without allowing existing residents to exercise an effective veto over new housing and growth.lawliberty.org/forum/zoning-…
James Heaney retweeted
Gary Winslett (@GaryWinslett) considers why some communities welcome development while others resist it, focusing on the cultural attitudes that shape local views of growth, property rights, and economic change. lawliberty.org/forum/the-cul…
James Heaney retweeted
If a Canadian doctor says "Would you rather have a Trans child or a dead child?", it is not a threat. They are just making you aware that they now offers both of these services.
James Heaney retweeted
i've tried and failed to make this point as clearly as i want to, but:
AI is weird, in that ppl who are optimistic about the technology's growth are often doomy about its implications; while ppl who are extremely skeptical about AI's capabilities are by default optimistic about it being a "normal" technology that won't change much in the world.
so you have this weird situation where a lot of AI skeptics who haven't been following AI news for the last few years (bc they wrote the whole thing off as NFTs 2.0) have no idea that there exists an enormous contingent of AI ppl who have for 10+ years said that very fast AI progress could be really bad for the world, and therefore they suspect that a conspiracy was concocted in the last two weeks to invent the case for AI safety
James Heaney retweeted
"Families should be treated, not as a needy institution, but as fundamentally productive. A business is the other obvious example. Indeed, families and businesses should be seen as the twin engines of productivity"
Good point from @rclu
christendomreborn.com/p/can-…
James Heaney retweeted
Pleasantly surprised by Theresa May - my usual reminder that after World War II, we hanged people involved in promoting euthanasia for the disabled esp children.
🔥On World Suicide Prevention Day, watch former PM @theresa_may cut through the euphemism & set the record straight on the Bill MPs vote on tomorrow:
“This Bill effectively says suicide is ok…What message does that give to our society? This Bill is wrong and…should not pass!"
James Heaney retweeted
Williamson is spot on. More importantly, never forget those who supported this.
James Heaney retweeted
We're talking NIMBYism, housing, and data centers this month at @LawLiberty. This response to Michael Munger's lead from @BCSWowbagger makes some important points, and even offers a practical suggestion.
lawliberty.org/forum/hearts-…
James Heaney retweeted
James J. Heaney considers why efforts to overcome local resistance to development often fall short, and how giving communities a greater stake in new projects could change the equation. lawliberty.org/forum/hearts-…
James Heaney retweeted
People are replying that if he really believed this he'd be sabotaging the company or at least quit. Except we actually have a somewhat recent parallel of teams of humans eagerly working on something that could end humanity, and they even made a major motion picture about it!
James Heaney retweeted
"i'm in the edit logs of a niche german-language wiki for developers created in 2001"
James Heaney retweeted
When discussing entitlement reform, people think they're just getting back in retirement what they paid in taxes during their careers.
The truth: The current system gives you back far more than you paid in taxes.
That's part of the reason why it's going bust in the early 2030s.
