site banner
naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   3256 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for March 24, 2023

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.

5
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

I'm a big fan of Jules Verne-style scientific adventure novels. The whole 19th-century spirit of adventure is great fun to read. Are there any modern books, fiction or nonfiction, which have the same vibe?

Diaspora by Greg Egan.

And Schild's Ladder, to a lesser extent.

Adventure novels are a bit like Sci fi stories about space sadly - the more knowledgeable we get about the natural universe, the more mundane reality becomes, shrinking the possibility space in return. We can't have stories about guys becoming giants when exposed to space or stories about finding a secret civilisation inside the earth any more.

The River of Doubt, Endurance: Shackletons Incredible Voyage, Into Thin Air, and Over the Edge of the World are all terrific adventure non-fiction books. They might scratch your itch.

Gerald Durrell's expedition books are not exactly modern modern (he started them in the 50s), but the spirit of adventure is great.

The Overloaded Ark, Three Singles to Adventure, The Bafut Beagles and so on.

The Long Way Round with Ewan McGregor was great as well, but it's not a book. I haven't watched the sequels, so I can't say anything about them.

Not a book, but I always thought the film Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou captures early 20th century exploration and scientific discovery well.

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