site banner
PaperclipPerfector  4mo ago (text post)   3997 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for June 23, 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.

4
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Why have mosquitos that target humans not evolved to be quiet? I will never donate blood to humans, those are overwhelmingly likely to be my political enemies, but I wouldn't mind donating to animals if the disruptions to my sleep didn't fill me with murderous rage.

Huh?

Are you saying an overwhelming majority of humans are your political enemies? Or that your political enemies have a inordinate disposition to needing blood transfusions? This is a bewildering comment.

Okay, you've been warned repeatedly. While being a misanthrope is not against the rules, posting nothing but low-effort rageposts about how much you hate the world is. A part of me feels sorry for you, because maybe you really are this miserable and just looking for "your people," but then I look at all your other recent posts and they're about trying to get around your sitewide reddit ban and how rapidly you cycle through alts. So I think neither you nor we will lose much by this account being banned.

I will never donate blood to humans, those are overwhelmingly likely to be my political enemies

Hemophiliacs, trauma victims, and people who need surgery?

What's the far-right misogynists to not-that ratio among hemophiliacs, trauma victims, and people who need surgery?

Presumably approaching that of the general population.

And thus, overwhelmingly ‘not-that’.

Seems perfectly reasonable to me that someone with fringe political beliefs would acknowledge that 90% or so of people are on the other side of their culture war. Similar to how a Jewish supremicist could easily acknowledge that the world is overwhelmingly non-Jewish, or an extremist Christian sect could acknowledge that “true believers” are a very small community, and so avoid giving aid in ways that will be, to them, mostly wasted on the oppositional general public.

Frankly I don’t know why people got so caught up in that part of his comment.

(The ban was still reasonable due to broader patterns, but this comment was mostly fine.)

The Anopheles are inaudible. A bunch of the others are inaudible to the elderly. Mosquitoes don't actually suck blood that many times in their lifecycles (only pregnant females suck blood). Also, TTBOMK most aren't humans-only.

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