site banner
naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   3627 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for March 31, 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.

2
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

... Manual memory management incredibly bad practice and is a main cause of software vulnerabilities everywhere. To make that concrete: people employed by the Chinese and US Government, as well as some private individuals, could right now send you a text message, or a link, that, just by viewing or clicking, allows them to take over your device, steal your data, passwords, spy on past and future conversations, etc. Dozens of vulnerabilities that could, and sometimes are, parts of these exploits are fixed in the most popular browsers, operating systems, and applications every month or so.

Your parody-argument as written is literally correct for 'unsafe languages' like C. People should stop using them for even moderately-complex, user/network facing applications. Beginner programmers don't notice pitfalls advanced programmers do and introduce RCEs, even advanced programers regularly introduce RCEs.

The notion that modern binge-drinking culture as found in American colleges and chav/bogan culture in the commonwealth is even remotely related to the notion that people should always have a standard drink flowing through them is palpably ridiculous

It’s pretty clear to me, and presumably many others reading your posts on this subject, that you are absolutely not interested in being persuaded even a tiny bit from your maximalist position on this. And that’s fine - given your statement that you’ve personally diluted wine to Roman specifications, I can tell that alcohol is a big part of your life, and the history of alcohol is a major point of interest for you - but it’s hard to escape the impression that you’re engaged in the genre of persuasive essay rather than in the spirit of actual dialogue.

Do you equally apply this prohibition to things like programming languages like C or stimulants like Adderall?

I’m not a programmer, so I have absolutely no opinion on programming languages, and I’ve never used Adderall in my life. You’re arguing against someone else and assuming that person is me. You’re also assuming that I argue for… well, it’s not exactly clear what specific policy position you’re attributing to me regarding alcohol consumption. I certainly have not advocated any top-down coercive measures to be taken against alcohol consumption in this conversation, so it seems once again that you are reading into my post something that I have not actually said.

Overall, you seem a lot more passionate about this subject than I am, and have far stronger opinions about it, so I don’t know what else there is for me to gain by confusing to engage.

Neither you nor curious_straight_ca has provided any evidence whatsoever that my arguments are unsupported, by either contemporary social reality or historical record

We've provided "evidence", in the sense that we've tried to use various sources and ideas to push back on your arguments. You mean we haven't provided good evidence. Which may be true, or may not be - but making incorrect arguments isn't against the rules, and the only way we can figure out which side is correct is continuing to make arguments.

I did skim it, as I'd read it in the past and missed that part. After you pointed out that mistake, I actually spent a few hours reading sources on ancient alcohol consumption, including a few chapters of a few pirated books!

Sure, sure, sure. This is the purest ad hominem and consensus building. "You're embarrassing yourself in front of others that clearly agree with me and you're a motivated drunk."

This is not an inaccurate summary of @Hoffmeister25's post, and he should stop engaging in consensus-building appeals to a silent audience.

That said, you're also being obnoxious and condescending.

Stop it, both of you.

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