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#2042·Dennis HackethalOP, about 1 year agoScience writer John Horgan wrote his own article about his experience at Rat Fest:
My Weekend at “Rat Fest” — John Horgan (The Science Writer)HOBOKEN, OCTOBER 4, 2025. “It feels a little cult-y.” That’s how I respond when Logan Chipkin asks what I think of “Rat Fest.” Let me back up a bit: Last summer, I get an email from someone named Logan Chipkin, who founded something called the Conjecture Institute . He wants my permission to use
Dennis Hackenthal weighs the relative merits of “patches” versus “purges,” meaning incremental political reforms versus revolutions. Hackenthal asks Rat Festers which they prefer. More hands go up for incremental reform. Popper was an incrementalist, and, well, revolutions can get messy.
I don’t recall asking. The central thesis of my talk was that Popper’s advocacy of gradual improvement doesn’t work in certain fundamental matters, ie matters which allow no room for compromise because even the slightest deviation from the ideal means utter surrender of the underlying principle. https://blog.dennishackethal.com/posts/reason-by-purge-or-by-patch
Oh and it’s Hackethal btw :) No ‘n’.