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PaperclipPerfector  5mo ago (text post)   4001 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.

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I used Reporter for iOS.

https://apps.apple.com/jp/app/reporter-app/id779697486

It allows you to survey yourself with custom questions at scheduled, semi-scheduled or random intervals. You can set the answer format for each question to be multiple choice, open, numerical etc. The app does a simple plot for each question but you can also export to CSV and do the analysis yourself.

Incidentally, the stats showed my best moods by a country mile were when I was at the pub with friends. Something of a surprise since I consider myself pretty introverted.

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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.


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