Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.
- 158
- 1
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
- Courtesy
- Content
- Engagement
- When disagreeing with someone, state your objections explicitly.
- Proactively provide evidence in proportion to how partisan and inflammatory your claim might be.
- Accept temporary bans as a time-out, and don't attempt to rejoin the conversation until it's lifted.
- Don't attempt to build consensus or enforce ideological conformity.
- Write like everyone is reading and you want them to be included in the discussion.
- The Wildcard Rule
- The Metarule
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
It’s like tailgating, but for parents.
I've been pretty underwhelmed on the fun aspect of trunk or treat so far. Kids only having to walk 200 feet for 20,000 calories of corn syrup seems like the societal own-goal of the century.
Sometimes I worry I romanticized my childhood too much, but the experience of going door to door with your friends and collapsing, exhausted, to trade candy on the living room floor after such a long journey was consistently awesome. I don't see how this can really compete.
We were Evangelical homeschoolers when I was Trick-or-Treating age, and also didn't have any neighborhood friends, so I guess I don't have any trick or treat golden age to look back on.
My impression is that there's an ideal age range for real trick or treating, and that my kids (5, 2, and not eating solids yet) are a bit young still. I saw some kids doing it last year, I think three total, so it would be a bit of an adventure, people don't signal if they're giving treats or not. I haven't had a single kid try at my house in four years.
I 100% agree on your 2 year old, and I would be a long-range helicopter with the 5 year old. But I had my 3 year old do a turn of the cul-de-sac at least before he said he was too tired to continue. Por que no los dos?
There's a bit of a supply and demand spiral going on, too. People in great neighborhoods don't get enough kids (I got maybe 7 last year?) so don't bother answering the door or handing stuff out. Others don't understand the signal that if your light is on, it means you're giving out candy, which makes kids have to walk a ton to get to a couple doors etc....
More options
Context Copy link
If they are not giving treats, aren't you supposed to be a little juvenile delinquent and play a trick on them?
Theoretically, but I have not encountered that outside of movies
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
People criticize me for my negative view of cars but the fact that the majority of the middle class in the wealthiest country on earth never walk anywhere that isn’t from [parking lot] to [immediately adjacent building] is very unfortunate.
I'm a bit of a fast food addict, and watching people choose to get into a 30 (!) car deep drive thru line instead of hopping into a parking spot is insane. Even the journey from a parking lot is too much for the majority of people.
More options
Context Copy link
I wouldn't necessarily read too much into it. If I were going to make a culture war statement, it would be about saftyism, rather than willingness to walk, even with the two year old (though it's really annoying to walk with a tired two year old). The kids went on a two mile hike with us to find an ancient cliff ruin that we heard about from a stranger in a bar the other day. They can probably go trick or treating when they're old enough to take initiative about it.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
Yeah, I had a similar experience. Shit was magical. I don’t know any current-year kids who don’t like it, either.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link