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PaperclipPerfector  2mo ago (text post)   2327 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for September 1, 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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Diet soda.

Have you tried Coke Zero?

Yes, there was Coke Zero, but now there is just Coke Zero Sugar with a slightly different taste and formula.

I’d say the bulk of my diet soda consumption at various points has been Coke Zero Sugar.

The number of calories and sugar in a regular bottle (or can) of Coke is eye-popping when you start paying attention.

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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."

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