site banner
PaperclipPerfector  3d ago (text post)   2246 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for January 5, 2025

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.

2
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

What happened is kind of a sad story. Kulak, you see, unsuccessfully attempted the hock… and the rest is as it is.

The irony is that this is arguably a more true explanation than not.

Lol

The hock?

Hock my balls.

In all seriousness: this guy. I don’t normally share mod notes, but in this case, his final note says “unban him if he survives.”

I love this place.

IIRC (I probably don't): A while ago, a user on this site kept posting about how he was going to be dropped off by helicopter with nothing but a knife in an isolated location as a way to forge himself into a real man or die trying. The isolated location was Hock Mountain, so he called this escapade "the Hock". The moderators eventually banned him for being a single-issue poster, since he kept talking about it but never actually did it.

The isolated location was Hock Mountain,

That mountain would have been a sensible choice -- as I recall his actual goal was a winter crossing of the Brooks range in Northern Alaska, which is much more ambitious.

I forget why he wants to call it The Hock, he may have been coy on this point...

"Hock" in this context means to throw; he intended to "Hock" himself out into the wilderness to survive by his grit.

It doesn't though -- "huck" means "throw"; "hock" is something the guy just kind of made up. (ironically there's also kind of snowshoe/ski hybrid called "Hok", that would have been a better equipment choice for his quest than what I recall him considering -- I don't think he knows about them though)

Pretty much. His hope was that completing The Hock would make him attractive to women, who he thought were picking up on the fact that he hadn't done anything tough in his life.

https://manifold.markets/BenjaminIkuta/will-skookumtree-pinetree-successfu

Specifically, he believed women weren't interested in him because they want (and can magically sense) a man who has overcome mortal danger. Thus the Hock.

I think this position is true in principle. Women are attracted to men on a mission. That user's solution seemed extreme. But if he had directed his energies into making meaningful strides in his chosen passion (such as, say, hiking) then I think there would be a lot to commend in it. And, as a happy side effect, he may well have become more attractive, or at least more fulfilled.

Women are attracted to men on a mission

He is/was an American med student. If he'd toughed it out a few years longer, I think his difficulties in getting laid would have been greatly ameliorated. I'm sure some nurse would have snatched him up regardless of his weapons-grade autism!

I think there's definitely something to what you say: women are attracted to men who have drive, who are capable of doing things, etc. I just don't think that SkookumTree's position was defensible. He believed that it was specifically overcoming mortal peril that women valued, and that they only wanted men who had done this. That was going too far, but he refused to listen to the many people trying to point that out to him.

It’s a leviathan shaped hole.

There is a really good Chris McCandless/Grizzly-man joke in there somewhere in there but im not smart enough to make it.

I'm embarrassed how much I giggled.

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