Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.
- 200
- 6
What is this place?
This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a
court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to
optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.
The weekly Culture War threads host the most
controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are
appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy;
if in doubt, post!
Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts.
You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.
Why are you called The Motte?
A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently,
it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey",
originally identified by
philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial
but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens
this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for
the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired
propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."
On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.
New post guidelines
If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it.
A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts
such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a
submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).
Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or
significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.
If in doubt, please post it!
Rules
- Courtesy
- Content
- Engagement
- When disagreeing with someone, state your objections explicitly.
- Proactively provide evidence in proportion to how partisan and inflammatory your claim might be.
- Accept temporary bans as a time-out, and don't attempt to rejoin the conversation until it's lifted.
- Don't attempt to build consensus or enforce ideological conformity.
- Write like everyone is reading and you want them to be included in the discussion.
- The Wildcard Rule
- The Metarule
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
When you read your culture’s “sacred texts” you might find metaphorical language involving lords, sowing, shepherds, servants. But these metaphors were not sacred or otherworldly when they were written. They were everyday things common to everyone, the building blocks of a person’s cognition. Everyone dealt with lords and knew how shepherds worked etc. Were these religions penned today, the metaphors they would use would involve phones, recharging, guns, internet access, and homework, as these are the new cognitive blocks common to mankind. “The Lord comes with a sword of justice” is fantastical to us, but the modern equivalent would be “the President and his congress of angels comes with an assault rifle of justice”.
Like that George Carlin bit, that if Jesus was born 40 years ago in the US, Christians would be wearing tiny electric chairs around their necks.
More options
Context Copy link
We're already there.
A lot has been said about QAnon, but it is definitely religious in nature: parables, eschatology, cryptic sacred text, prophecy involving Trump triumphing in the last days… indeed that it is called “Q” anon always made me think this was conscious: academic scholars believe that the gospel was preceded by a “Q” document of sayings, which were then disseminated and interpreted by the
anon postersapostlesMy favorite part of that image is the eagle firing a drum mag smg.
Not the Amy Coney Barrett .50?
More options
Context Copy link
That is an AA-12 fully automatic 12 gauge shotgun, actually.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
The laser-guided bomb of justice you mean.
Also, are these my culture's sacred text? I feel the only text I consider somehow sacred are Nick Land's writing and I have thankfully read only very few of them, thus preserving the little I have of my sanity.
I've never felt kinship with my nation or ethnic group. The only group I've ever felt I belonged to was my boy scout troop, before the good years there ended.
They recruited a couple untrustworthy people and I spent years scratching my head why we didn't kick the guy who would reply not instantly, like every other scout, but with a 300 ms delay. I didn't trust him from the start because of that and eventually that was proven right a couple years later.
Can you speak more about this feature? Is it some indication of psychopathology?
It's an indication someone is thinking before speaking. Unless you give someone an actual question that requires thinking through, it's very unusual to be like that and it instantly makes me suspicious.
The guy did it constantly.
Maybe he was just slow?
He wasn't mentally retarded or incompetent.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link