site banner
naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   3971 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for March 19, 2023

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

3
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Wouldn't 'supporting the current thing's go against his long term goal?

Every long term goal is composed of short term steps.

If he gave an inch by painting the rockets, wouldn't they ask for the mile?

Wouldn't they ask for affirmative action in his rocket engineering teams?

Easy. Rocket engineering teams announce their transition and discover their POC identity, helped by generous benefits offered to BIPOC LGBTQ+ employees.

The 'current year' people are apparently debating the ethics of who to put on a rocket.

This is thought experiment unconnected to anything real, such "lifeboat" scenarios were debated by science fiction nerds before our parents were born.

If we take this scenario literally, human race is doomed anyway (no way you can get viable population out of eight people).

If you want to argue that he should do at least the minimum X amount of signaling, then how do we know that this is not dooming the future either?

The minimum he could do would be do not alienate both woke people and deep state simultaneously. Just shut up, about both culture wars and Ukraine.

How many generations of rocket engineers do we hope to breed if we're signaling to this generation that rocket engineering is GAY?

Breeding? You can as well ask what model of ox driven wagon is best for trip to Mars. If organic humans ever get to space, they will be designed, not bred.

How can we expect honest engineering if the only competent people we want to hire have to spend a non-negligible amount of time and effort navigating dishonest mission statements, hiring practices, etc?

This is work for lawyers and PR people, not engineers.

In past times the only possibility go towards stars was through creating (useless, but cool) vengeance weapons for Greatest Leader of Aryan Race or (even more useless, but way cooler) cold war propaganda stunts for Freedom and Democracy.

Wernher von Braun understood it, and was willing to wear both Nazi uniform and American business suit to get closer to his dream. And he achieved it.

Surely Musk can wear dress and wig.

Face it: space is deeply hostile, if humanity wants to spread there it must transform. Transhumanism is the only way to the stars, and transgenderism is the only way to transhumanism in current conditions.

"Yes, I assembled world's top scientific talent and I am spending billions on researching human cloning and creating artificial wombs. Why? This is the only way to help trans people to fulfill their dreams to affirm their gender identity by having children of their own. Do you want to say they are not valid?"

"Yes, I am spending tens of billions on researching human brain, on genetic engineering, on growing organs and body parts of cell cultures. Why? Hundreds of millions of trans people all over the world are waiting for their gender affirming treatments. Do you want to deny them their rights?"

"You dare to call me Nazi? You dare to call me eugenicist? You dare to call me Frankenstein? Are you against trans health care? Are you a TRANSPHOBE?"

If organic humans ever get to space, they will be designed, not bred.

Would they still be humans then?

if humanity wants to spread there it must transform. Transhumanism is the only way to the stars, and transgenderism is the only way to transhumanism in current conditions.

If they transform from human, are they still human?

Surely Musk can wear dress and wig.

Why? Maybe that's not his plan. Maybe he doesn't value 'space' above everything else.

Transhumanism is the only way to the stars, and transgenderism is the only way to transhumanism in current conditions.

Or he could just start working for China instead. That'd be less alienating.

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