site banner
PaperclipPerfector  7d ago (text post)   2564 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for February 14, 2025

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.

2
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

I made sure my kids watched The Hobbit, but only because they'd want to see it eventually anyways and they enjoyed it much more by watching it before the Lord of the Rings trilogy, so it was a source of excitement rather than disappointment.

Beware reading Harry Potter to kids who might still be too young for the later themes. I started reading the first book to my oldest, figuring it would take us half a year to get through each book at a few pages a night, which would give her a few years to mature as the sequels got more serious and frightening. Instead she decided that this was going to be when she started reading chapter books by herself, and then I couldn't bring myself to make her wait on the later books, nor or to forbid her watching the movies after she'd blitzed through the whole series. She at least didn't have any nightmares that she told me about...

Not that I’m biased or anything, but it’ll probably be good for her. The opportunity to plow through multiple volumes of Potter probably has a lot to do with my later taste for chunky slabs of fantasy.

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