site banner
PaperclipPerfector  10d ago (text post)   2283 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for March 21, 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.

3
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

I feel like this is plainly inconsistent with the canon. We don't see the conjuration of everyday household items or food, and magical items such as wands and infinite-capcity containers are obviously scarce and valuable. And of course something like transmuting lead into gold is explicitly mentioned to be difficult if not impossible.

You don’t need to conjure food or water when you can just Apparate to a fresh mountain stream or tree laden with fruit whenever you want (transatlantic teleporting is made out to be difficult, but the length of the UK between, say, Scotland and London is easy and common enough). At the world quidditch championship, the Weasleys also conjure up an entire camp the size of a small home from almost nothing, suggesting that shelter is also post-scarcity in every real sense.

Items imbued with certain magical essences that can seemingly only be created by human craftsmen are not abundant, sure. But other than wands, these are essentially luxury goods (an adult wizard has no need for a broom, and the other things that money is needed to buy are things like rare artifacts, magical candy and toys - presumably handmade - and so on). The financial system exists for the sake of itself. The magical night bus doesn’t need a driver, since magical objects can act and think for themselves many times in the series. It has one because it should have one, or something.

The same is true for white collar employment. Magical automation clearly exists (see the hate mail envelopes, the automation of memos in the ministry, automated magical maps, automated dictation tools / pens, interactive magical videos in picture frames and - most significantly - magical portraits, which are clearly generative AI trained on an artist’s impression of the subject, and which would appear to be capable of complex thought and therefore white collar labor), its use is governed by something other than possibility or efficiency.

Consider the aurors who trace misuse of magic. Are they actually necessary? The ministry has the ability to track, seemingly, every use of magic in all of England. If it doesn’t do so it is purely by choice. This is what I mean by propriety, the magical society is governed by its own code that involves this manual labor and a simulated quasi-market or capitalist economy in some aspects, with strict rules (like that you can’t conjure money) enforced arbitrarily.

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