site banner
PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   1936 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 20, 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.

1
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

So, what are you reading?

Still on Future Shock and Committing Journalism. Starting Galactic Patrol, in the Lensman series.

All Cormac McCarthy.

Finished my re-read of The Road, and alright, I have no complaints. It's a book alright. Very good.

Also finished The Passenger. I still maintain that it went over my head, but I found it beautiful nonwithstanding. So much so that I immediately bought the sequel, Stella Maris, on finishing it. Currently reading that one.

I'm not sure why I like McCarthy that much. I suspect it's just some kind of autistic imprinting rather than the actual quality of the literature; after all I'm not even an Anglo and I have no business caring about Anglo literature as much as I do. And my interest is probably a lot more shallow than I think. What do I really know?

Still, if there were something like a Complete McCarthy Collection in good shape and boxing, I'd buy it in a heartbeat and happily starve for a month.

Discovered a good source of audiobooks so suddenly my book consumption skyrocketed. Listening to Dogs of War by Frederick Forsyth at the moment. It’s a hell of a book.

Also slowly progressing through a physical copy of God Emperor of Dune. Things became pretty weird at the end of the last book and has no sign of slowing down.

Is the source of audiobooks... paid? pirated?

I'm reading The Count of Monte Cristo and enjoying it a lot. It feels very much like a sort of shlocky Hollywood action movie dressed up as literature, but like in a good way. A man is wronged by his friends, imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit, escapes, becomes rich and plots his elaborate revenge on his enemies? I can just imagine Dumas whispering "hell yeah" to himself constantly while writing this.

If he was writing today, he’d probably be publishing on RoyalRoad.

I read it last year, there is a good rendition of it on librivox, silly Italian accent is a huge value add. Very enjoyable, though somewhat lenghty.

I've been enjoying some Verner Vinge (RIP to a real one who predicted the Singularity but died potentially just a few years short of seeing it). A Fire Upon The Deep and a Deepness in The Sky were pretty good. It's a damn shame it's just a trilogy, I was hoping for more to chew through.

Also happily enjoying Collen McCullough's Masters of Rome series, ah, she's a very good writer, and it's time to truly grapple with Caesar's adventures.

Verner Vinge is my main man. You should also try some of the audio books made from his works. Works great when you want to have your gaze spaced out looking at the horizon.

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