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official_techsupport  who/whom  2yr ago (text post)   2984 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for September 09, 2022

We don't have the bot, so let me step in: this thread is not for serious in depth discussion of weighty topics, 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.

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Why would anyone design a community based on such a principle? It rounds back again to: they are fucking stupid lol. Is it basic retardation or some advanced form of idiocy that affects high IQ people is kinda irrelevant.

Why do people believe false things ?

Maybe it's related to social desirability. Sneerclub beliefs are laudable in polite society, hanging around with like-minded people and inventing dunks on the chuds is something that might help.

What is this place?

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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.


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