site banner
PaperclipPerfector  5mo ago (text post)   4460 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for June 16, 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.

2
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

I possibly need a new, but probably related, username and need ideas.

People here keep giving me shit and assuming priors of ironclad strength along with deliberate shit-stirring due to my username EverythingIsFine, which was only partly foreseen. As I explained elsewhere:

I was trying to come up with a new nick for the new forum to disallow cross-looking, I knew a prolific redditor with a similar and memorable nickname, and I was at the time of the opinion that signifying prior inclinations in a username would be helpful information on the forum. So it was a deliberate decision, not an indication that I'm some sort of status-quo warrior.

Spoiler: people think I'm some sort of status-quo warrior.

So far I don't think anyone has gotten the reference to the meme either, which was meant to be at least partly tongue in cheek and self-deprecating, and have taken the whole thing very seriously instead. No, actually, I'm just a pretty consistent centrist, who thinks more accurately that rather than everything being fine, that everything will work itself out and be fair-ish in the current system. In fact there are a few things I'm decidedly un-fine about. But... I am sort of an old school constitutionalist in the sense that I think the US political system was deliberately designed to be some balance of slow to respond to public feeling, but also fast enough to reasonably reflect what people seem to actually want and care about, by revealed preference. And it does just that! Actually kind of well! As evidenced by its long-term stability and good outcomes for most Americans. With some partisan combat that happens along the way, which is fine to participate in. I lean probably just slightly right on a more traditional values spectrum, but slightly left in the current political environment. I've volunteered for both two Democratic campaigns (2020 Biden, and a local candidate) and two Republican ones (two state candidates), all of them moderates in their fields. I tend to go for the most moderate primary candidate in national presidential primaries, though I probably have a soft spot for Bernie, and I also generally tend to be relatively dissatisfied by the field as a whole for a decade. I have changed my stance on a handful of important issues over the years. Right now Pew puts me (though not very strongly) in the Democratic Mainstays, make of that what you will. Maybe a cross between that and Ambivalent Right and Outsider Left, though I am much more politically active than the norm.

My original idea is that it is in fact helpful in a discussion to have a rough sense of someone's priors beforehand, but I didn't want it to be this ironclad thing. I don't consider my beliefs above to be stuck, just strong. Do you think I was wrong about a username like this? Does having an opinionated nickname help or hurt dialogue here?

So yeah, ideas welcome. Should I keep the general format so people know it's still me? Or just go for something way different?

As someone whose username, if overthought, has more-or-less the same connotation as yours, you're putting WAAY too much thought into this. As long as your username isn't obviously trolling or actively offensive, I dont think it matters to anyone. For what it's worth, I assumed your name was a reference to the "this is fine" meme of the dog in the burning room, which seems like a perfectly appropriate tongue-in-cheek name for a forum like this.

You could consider setting your flair to something more descriptive.

darwin2501

I would have assumed your name was sarcastic rather than an actual indication of your beliefs. Are there really that many people here who interpret things literally?

Imo his handle is a bit too on the nose for his posting habits. This forum is primarily filled with incorrigible contrarians soapboxing about everything that is wrong, so with his stated views he does end up constantly posting that, well, everything is fine.

Well, obviously, your username is fine.

Just lean into it and change your name to “StatusQuoWarrior”

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