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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   6148 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for May 21, 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.

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I have a finely honed sense of schadenfreude, and I feel no embarrassment about it.

I am a rather reasonable person, so the majority of people are only getting what's coming to them. In fact, I've found spite and hatred to be excellent motivators when nothing else can rouse me out of my depression, such as when I worked out for a year on the nominal basis of beating up this one asshole (not that I ever did, but the fantasy was worth it).

Overall, I can't help but be happy when bad things happen to bad people, literally couldn't happen to a better person as far as I'm concerned!

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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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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.


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