site banner
naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   16090 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of December 19, 2022

This weekly roundup thread is intended for all culture war posts. 'Culture war' is vaguely defined, but it basically means controversial issues that fall along set tribal lines. Arguments over culture war issues generate a lot of heat and little light, and few deeply entrenched people ever change their minds. This thread is for voicing opinions and analyzing the state of the discussion while trying to optimize for light over heat.

Optimistically, we think that engaging with people you disagree with is worth your time, and so is being nice! Pessimistically, there are many dynamics that can lead discussions on Culture War topics to become unproductive. There's a human tendency to divide along tribal lines, praising your ingroup and vilifying your outgroup - and if you think you find it easy to criticize your ingroup, then it may be that your outgroup is not who you think it is. Extremists with opposing positions can feed off each other, highlighting each other's worst points to justify their own angry rhetoric, which becomes in turn a new example of bad behavior for the other side to highlight.

We would like to avoid these negative dynamics. Accordingly, we ask that you do not use this thread for waging the Culture War. Examples of waging the Culture War:

  • Shaming.

  • Attempting to 'build consensus' or enforce ideological conformity.

  • Making sweeping generalizations to vilify a group you dislike.

  • Recruiting for a cause.

  • Posting links that could be summarized as 'Boo outgroup!' Basically, if your content is 'Can you believe what Those People did this week?' then you should either refrain from posting, or do some very patient work to contextualize and/or steel-man the relevant viewpoint.

In general, you should argue to understand, not to win. This thread is not territory to be claimed by one group or another; indeed, the aim is to have many different viewpoints represented here. Thus, we also ask that you follow some guidelines:

  • Speak plainly. Avoid sarcasm and mockery. When disagreeing with someone, state your objections explicitly.

  • Be as precise and charitable as you can. Don't paraphrase unflatteringly.

  • Don't imply that someone said something they did not say, even if you think it follows from what they said.

  • Write like everyone is reading and you want them to be included in the discussion.

On an ad hoc basis, the mods will try to compile a list of the best posts/comments from the previous week, posted in Quality Contribution threads and archived at /r/TheThread. You may nominate a comment for this list by clicking on 'report' at the bottom of the post and typing 'Actually a quality contribution' as the report reason.

16
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Just one comment, many heating systems that use other fuel such as gas or wooden pellets also rely on electro-mechanical components. So do not be surprised when your heat pump becomes useless during blackout - of course it does when there is no electricity for water/air circulation.

I do have a tiled wood stove with an oven where I can heat food/water and that also serves as additional heating element (when open) in case of extreme cold. I did install it for monetary but also house microclimate reasons. But lately I am more fond of how robust this old piece of technology is to various shocks and SHTF scenarios. I have no regrets for sure.

Btw, I would love to see a pic of your stove model. I've been frustrated by my new one being unusable for anything more than warming pots of water, because the top is basically an aluminum duct for hot air flow.

You could cook a steak on my old one if it wasn't so disgustingly coated in soot lol.

For personal warmth, I've been leaning on a vintage Jon-E giant hand warmer. I know Zippo makes similar and so do other Chinese manufacturers. This category of hand warmer is new to me and I am loving it. It runs on naphtha (Zippo fluid, V&PM Naptha at the hardware store, or camping "White Gas") and has a platinum catalyst that, once heated, catalyzes the naphtha fumes to produce substantial heat for 8+ hours per fill. There's no flame, and you can restrict its oxygen substantially, so it's quite happy in a pocket or under the blankets. There's something almost magical about the amount of energy in liquid fuel.

"Chinese import wearable zippo heater" sounds like the setup to a morbid joke about why they call that guy "Johnny No-hands"

Yeah, even this basic wood stove has an electric fan for better heat transfer (although it's obnoxious enough that I never use it). A lot of people get surprised when their gas furnaces and such also go out in a power cut, and don't learn to use any manual backups the equipment has.

Simple options really are the best, at least as a fallback.

A friend of mine who had a wood stove had a fan that was powered by the warmth of the stove (it sat on top). The fan would blow as the stove warmed up, and stop when it cooled. Pretty cool, and might be a good addition to your setup for days without power.

These are Stirling engine fans, and they don’t do much more compare to regular convection (they simply don’t have a lot of power to move substantial amount of air). They’re really cool, though, I love Stirling engines.

Yeah, I remember seeing a thermodynamic analysis of them and being devastated that such a cool idea didn't really work.

I have classical Tirol tiled woodstove that does not rely on any electricity or other sensitive components. I even asked for automatic doors for management of air toward the fire, but I was discouraged from it in the end. The argument used was simple: there are wood stoves hundreds of years old that work just fine even today. A motor that opens/closes the door maybe lasts 5 or 10 years if I am lucky and it will give me just additional headaches when it inevitably breaks. The guy gave me guarantee of free inspection with the promise that the stove will definitely outlast my house. I was sold immediately :D

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