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PaperclipPerfector  8d ago (text post)   2208 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for April 11, 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.

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No. It isn't. I think for some reason people hesitate to make standalone threads on the Motte. I honestly don't know why.

Learned behavior from the Reddit days when it was actively discouraged to not draw the ire of the site admins

If it's not culture war there's little chance I share many interests with you good people. There were incredibly lengthy threads about golfing, gunpowder packing, and trips to China. I'm sure if I liked reading as much as you fine folks maybe it would be worth checking out.

The fertility cliff is interesting to me, but I also think it qualifies as culture war.

I tend to go for low effort shitposting, which is forbidden for top level posts/standalone threads. I may not be a high quality poster but I follow the rules. o:)

Good chance nobody looks at it. Or at least higher bar for getting attention.

The mods are a lot harder on top-level posts than they are on replies. I get the impression that this is a considered policy on their part, but it does have side-effects

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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.


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