site banner
PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   3263 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for July 9, 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.

5
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

I’m sorry, due to your failure to provide a clear answer like 4B, you’ve failed the test too.

What does it mean for something to be true, though?

You are lost. Shame that people from the developing world have not yet developed immune defenses against this crap.

Well, if you have understood that I argue [against] 4B, why do you feel the need for this laughable, adolescent attempt at condescension?

I see you just trying to weasel out of this. You are not used to losing the debate so one-sidedly, I figure. Well start getting used to it, you're corncobbing yourself out of pure obstinacy, this really looks very childish.

I also disagree with 1A, on this account 4A does not follow, likewise for 1B. Your entire correlative logic is worthless, it does not correspond to reality, because a) truth on all political matters is abundant and b) content of statements is determined by intention regarding their effects, which instrumentally calls for basically any combination of truths and falsehoods in a given situation for a given speaker. Again, your syllogism gotcha game is eristic, as bad as Greek stuff (and even Greks knew that the proper response to it is silent violence), and your idea of truth is undifferentiated to the point that you don't seem to distinguish Truth from Good. Your epistemology is millenia out of date.

You are lost.

Whatever helps you sleep at night. I do hope you will grow up and learn to read, though.

Dude, admittedly you are being provoked (and @fuckduck9000 is almost certainly on the path to bannination) but you know better than this. You right now have a mod sheet that is getting almost long enough that we have to scroll down, and it's about 50% AAQCs, 50% antagonism like this. The AAQCs count for a lot, which is why you haven't eaten a ban yet, but that doesn't mean you can just react like this with impunity. You need to chill, even when someone is baiting you, or you will get a time-out.

I do know better than this. Also I do not believe he is "baiting" or "provoking" me in the sense of calculatingly putting on an act to elicit emotional reaction, I take his line of action as essentially sincere (if supported by intellectually disingenuous arguments, as I've claimed a few times by now) expression of contempt for my object-level worldview and general epistemology; a feeling I mostly reciprocate. He explicitly threw down the gauntlet with this subthread, but despite that I'd be willing to speak more courteously if there were no affected postures of domination and schooling one's lesser («you have failed the test» etc).

You can see I have the same cringeworthy failure mode, and perhaps it would be fair of me to cut him some slack for this reason. But I am constitutionally not fair-minded enough for that, so it is impossible to continue this in a dignified manner, therefore I'll just block @fuckduck9000 for the time being. (Sorry man, you can take this as a win if you see it this way).

Because of the hostility, him, me, @SecureSignals, @FCfromSSC, @Primaprimaprima are missing an opportunity for more fruitful exploration of the question of our alleged «postmodernism». Hermeneutics of suspicion, critical theory (as a method, not contemporary politicized doctrine) and conflict theory (Scott's simplified reinvention of the latter for grey tribe techies who haven't engaged with prog-coded writing) and other adjacent takes are close to the heart of the Culture War problem. A pity.

When have I stood in the way of you guys exploring anything? I just responded to people responding to me. You threatened to block prima a few days ago. I guess when there are no mistake theorists left, you'll be banning and blocking each other.

I thought his answer was fine. I was somewhat curt.

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