Pontus

Software engineer. Conservative. YIMBY. Anglo-Iraqi. Free markets, free people. 🇬🇧🇮🇶

[Pontus @Pontus4Pope]

Land-use reform is the right thing from every perspective. A 🧵.

In terms of cost-of-living, plentiful and cheap housing would make a massive improvement to household finances and quality of life.

[Pontus @Pontus4Pope]

@dilanesper A lot of people go the other way though. E.g. I used to be very pro-choice, having kids turned me pro-life. These experiences can illuminate your thinking, but fundamentally they don't point you anywhere normatively.

[Pontus @Pontus4Pope]

@myhandle I went to an orgy and came back with a husband. Loosen up, squares!

[Not pictured - the people who came back with a nasty STD and don't want to talk about it]

[Pontus @Pontus4Pope]

@pegobry_en Not necessarily.

If consciousness is dynamically relevant (as it surely is), then software isn't conscious as we understand it.

No surprise that substrate matters for panpsychism!

[Pontus @Pontus4Pope]

"The greatest nation the world has ever seen."

We can once again be the Britain this German imagines we still are.

[Octavian 🇪🇺 @posta_octavian]

Yes, without Britain, there would be no steam engine, steam trains, telephones, parliamentarism, modern constitutionalism, English as the lingua france, penicillin, end of the slave trade, ATMs, logarithms, Shakespeare, the theory of evolution and so much more.

In 1000 years, once we have gotten over neurotic jealously and third worlidsm, people will look at Britain with more admiration than we look at Ancient Greece today. It is quite evidently the greatest nation the world has ever seen. It's not even particularly close.

[Pontus @Pontus4Pope]

@pegobry_en As late as 1657 the Marquis de Langey was forced into a humiliating public "Trial by Congress" and declared impotent.

But as he later had 7 children I think he was just struggling under performance anxiety with fifteen people watching him.

[Pontus @Pontus4Pope]

This kind of dignified and responsible statement is what we should have been hearing from the PM.

[Kemi Badenoch @KemiBadenoch]

Today I have met Lucy, Mark and Katie, Henry Nowak’s mother, father and stepmother. Their courage is extraordinary.

They have endured the most appalling loss, it is a life sentence for them.

They have also faced the agonising decision to release the harrowing body-worn camera footage, knowing how painful it would be and how strongly people would react. They did so because they want truth, accountability and change.

They have asked that we work across political parties and religions to rebuild trust in the police. That trust has been broken because of what happened, and I agree with them on that.

We must also be prepared to examine, carefully and seriously, religious practices or exemptions that permit the carrying of dangerous weapons in public, and other activities that are not conducive to the public good. We also need to examine where the law needs to change.

Henry’s family do not want anger to tear communities apart. They are a family who have friends across faith and race, and so did Henry. His family want his memory to help bring our society together.

Everyone knows I have strong views about how we should deal with equality under the law. What the family agreed with me on is that we need to bring common sense back, and that is what we should all be fighting for.

I promised the family that we will work to ensure there is a positive legacy for Henry out of this tragedy.

That is my focus now.

[Pontus @Pontus4Pope]

Rough credences for solutions to the hard problem:

Galen Strawson-style Panpsychism: 50%
Information-theoretic: 5%
Something something Quantum woo: 5%
Sunni Islam: 5%
Other (non-religious) dualism: 25%
Problem shifted (e.g. simulationism): 10%

[Pontus @Pontus4Pope]

@Ralph_L8 @Medievalhtybuff Extremely disputed. Louis the Lion (the future Louis VIII of France) was proclaimed king, and controlled more than half the country for a time, and there was a civil war. But Henry III's regents prevailed in the end.

[Kemi Badenoch @KemiBadenoch]

Identity politics divides our country whoever is doing it.

The Conservative Party rejects it.

We believe in universalism and equality under the law. We must not treat people differently on the basis of skin colour. We have to build faith and trust in our institutions.

If there is one thing that should come from Henry’s death, it is that we make things better, so that this does not happen to any of our boys again.

That is what I am committed to.

I do not want his death to be in vain.

Let’s do this for Henry. Let’s get this right.

[Pontus @Pontus4Pope]

@historyinfamy York would give it a run for its money. Started a civil war, murdered in the Tower, executed at Whitehall, abdicated in disgrace.

And that's without mentioning the most recent holder.

[Pontus @Pontus4Pope]

@Medievalhtybuff The Witan chose Harold. End of.

[Pontus @Pontus4Pope]

@YugoML1917 @K_Niemietz Commie thinks those who reject its gobbledegook must just not understand it.

Commie can't understand why those pesky contradictions haven't made capitalism collapse yet.

Commie talks about its mental illness in their bio.

Many such cases.

[Pontus @Pontus4Pope]

@MeggMacc @thechosenberg You, dipshit.

[Pontus @Pontus4Pope]

@captgouda24 Why have you ranked Ronald Coase so low? Incredibly influential in multiple areas, still publishing past his 100th birthday.

[Pontus @Pontus4Pope]

@CapelLofft Probably about right.

[Pontus @Pontus4Pope]

The worst political experience of my life was the 2017 GE. We thought we'd win, ended up losing by >10k.

But we weren't out of touch, it was the dreadful national campaign. You could feel the mood shift on the doorstep. I remain convinced we'd have won if May hadn't gone mad.

[Conor Sen @conorsen]

Obviously when your candidate loses an election 51-49% that’s tough but a runner-up bad feeling is when a candidate you thought had strong support ends up getting 9%, makes you realize how out of touch your circle was.

[Pontus @Pontus4Pope]

@Michael_Druggan @JohnMHawk In my scenario, expected winnings from A = 10 - 100 = -$90.

From B = 9 - 0.01 = $8.99.

8.99 > -90

[Pontus @Pontus4Pope]

@Michael_Druggan @JohnMHawk You absolutely need to know how much tickets cost. If a ticket to lottery A is 100 dollars, and a ticket to lottery B is 1 cent, lottery B is better.

[Pontus @Pontus4Pope]

@MeggMacc @thechosenberg You don't have kids, so you're proving my point.