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Culture War Roundup for the week of December 30, 2024

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I no longer believe in cross-ideological discussion. I no longer believe in good faith, or shared values in disagreement, or the merits of discourse.

That's a dumb thing to say bud, especially if you are going to follow through with it. Always be willing to engage, always be willing for dialogue. If someone starts talking about something you don't want to talk about, you be as nice as you can as you stumble over basic definitions or gish gallop by condescendingly explaining some pedantic mistake that has zero bearing on the issue at hand. Do it well enough and you can tie your enemies up in useless conversations for ages.

But the Motte won't, because the Motte doesn't value the truth that highly, but rather values endless self justifying discussion for its own sake.

This is totally on point however, figuring this out is how I stopped getting banned all the time.

This is totally on point however, figuring this out is how I stopped getting banned all the time.

I'm curious about this—what sorts of truth do you think themotte can't handle, in favor of continued discussion? Feel free to circumlocute as much as you feel is needed, given the statement.

I could have attached examples from the motte of the behaviour I mentioned in the preceding paragraph, for example. But if you are prepared for circumlocution you already know what I mean don't you? When you value truth over politeness or continued discussion you have to accept that you will be offended - and not necessarily by the truth - because you will hear thoughts unburdened by the deception of palatability. If we valued truth over continued discussion the idea that I might prevaricate for any reason would be offensive.

Well, I said that specifically because your statement demanded it, not because I was especially worried.

I think maintaining a place where continued dialogue can be had aids pursuit of truth. If one must accommodate one's tone in order to achieve that, it can certainly be worth it.

This is totally on point however, figuring this out is how I stopped getting banned all the time.

Which user were you when you got banned? Cuz it wasn't this one.

Yeah, it was back on reddit. It took me far too long to figure it out and I still forget it sometimes.