site banner
bolido_sentimental  1yr ago (text post)   4135 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for December 25, 2022

Merry Christmas, everyone!

4
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

I had a few of those. Answers well-memorized, methods well-drilled, and most importantly the test was actually on the topics of the course - something that was frequently not the case at my university. Take one look at the test, write down all the answers in half an hour, then sit there for an hour or ask to be permitted to leave while all my peers are still working away at their desks. Not something that happened to me with math tests, but frequently with CS tests.

Now, I am not a clever man. See https://www.buttersafe.com/2008/10/23/the-detour/. And I think it is in fact a small but significant degree of dumbness that allows me to just blow off the prospects of re-visiting my answers. Or maybe high time preference? Maybe I really don't want to waste an hour even if it might cost me some infinitesimal career advantage? In any case, I don't think it's necessarily intelligence.

I'm fairly certain it's not intelligence, through high school and law school friends who got the same scores consistently took longer.

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