site banner
PaperclipPerfector  5mo ago (text post)   2447 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for May 31, 2024

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.

5
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Weird I find country increasingly feels self referential and unlistenable. My dad was listening to country radio, and Cowboys and Plowboys came on, and it just made me want to gag. A whole song built on a fake distinction between fake identities of people who don't exist. It just felt so manufactured.

I think part of it is exposure. Obviously I had genre preferences I actively sought out when I was younger, but the general media landscape would give you a more balanced diet of different types of music. There were popular Rock songs, Rap songs, Country songs as well as obvious Pop hits. I'm sure Country has also gone downhill, but it was kinda easier for me to turn my nose up at it as a selective kid/teen.

Now that it seems everything is so heavily Rap dominated, I've kinda made a peace with other genres (like Metal, even). Like, please play anything that doesn't have that monotone rhythmic cadence and that fucking repetitive stuttering hi-hat trick! I know that's supposed to be a 'trap' thing, but Lord it seems to show up everywhere in influence. Please stop putting it in so many soundtracks and trailers where literally any other choice of music would be more appropriate.

I asked Google Home to play some 'easy listening' music and it defaulted to some midtempo mumbling rhyming about pussy sweat among other things. I am not a prude, and my own audio catalogue has its share of depravity. But come on. I want George Michael (sexual t-rex that he was), not this.

I listen to very little new music overall, so you're probably right: if I listened to more unfiltered Top-40 I would probably hate most of that much more than I hate a lot of modern country. Music essentially gets added to my library from the local college radio station, from my gym friends, from my wife. The only time I'm listening to unfiltered new music is when my father is listening to country radio while we drive somewhere.

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


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats