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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   30382 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of May 8, 2023

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I'm not interested in going round and round with your whining about why I modded Suzy but I didn't mod Johnny. If you disagree with my mod decision, feel free to appeal to Zorba. (Protip: reporting every mod comment that makes you angry multiple times is not an effective way to advance your case.)

I'm not interested in going round and round with your whining about why I modded Suzy but I didn't mod Johnny.

There are some things that moderators should be doing regardless of whether they are interested in them or not.

It's like having a restaurant owner who's "not interested" in making sure his food is stored at the right temperature.

There are some things that moderators should be doing regardless of whether they are interested in them or not.

Arguing with people for as long as they wish to continue the argument is not one of them.

We are janitors, we clean up messes. We are not your staff, we are not your employees, and we are not obligated to provide you with a satisfactory level of customer service.

To the degree that we care about providing a good discussion environment (which of all us do), we are usually willing to explain our reasoning. You can criticize us, you can ask for clarification, you can argue that we made a bad call. But you don't get to play Karen with us.

The term whining here is uncalled for. That's a reflection on your irritation, not the complaint. One might also argue that for a mod to use such terms discourages active participation, to say nothing of direct feedback. Just a thought.

edit for typos

Usually I don't insert my personal opinion about someone's complaint, but sometimes, whining is whining, and "You modded me but you didn't mod him!" after I have already explained why, is whining.

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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!

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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."

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