site banner
PaperclipPerfector  5mo ago (text post)   3249 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for June 9, 2024

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

3
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Full beards or scruffy Hollywood shadow meant to drive the women wild?

Full beards, goatees, moustaches, etc, but none of that scruff. Something a teenaged boy can’t grow.

I imagine @2rafa has one of those long full beards and the flappy Orthodox side locks. How close am I? I keed!

Since you mentioned beards, I'll tag you, @hydroacetylene. Also you're probably not as blonde as you used to be, North of 30, big boned, some kind of engineer maybe, not unaccustomed to physical labor when necessary. You live in a suburb of Dallas, which is hot as a motherfuck, although you're not native (I would guess New Orleans originally.) You never mention your wife so probably not married or maybe just very discreet, upstanding Catholic dude that you are. Speak passable Spanish and French, maybe some German, maybe some Dutch. All of the above could be wrong. I do this to everybody btw. It's a bad habit.

Close, very close, but not quite there.

At least about me; I suppose it’s possible that 2rafa has a hormone disorder, but not what I’d expect.

I actually envision her as a petite, long-haired 20 something who types on a laptop wearing those bluelight reduction glasses, wearing print t shirts of Vassar or wherever that she would never wear in public.

I don't blame you for remaining vague. But it's clever misdirection if I was spot on and you just want to remain mysterious.

Edit: I was right about your beard though yes?

Your biggest mistake was that I’m not an engineer, or any kind of white collar worker.

This is the line of work I see you in

Animal cruelty?

But you did attend college. I was going to say welder but opted for engineer.

But you did attend college

Not actually true. Welder is, I suppose, close enough for- well quite literally not government work, thank you occupational licensing taxes, but online purposes I guess.

My powers have failed me.

More comments

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