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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   2812 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for September 1, 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.

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If you like self-reference and logic (and who doesn't, really?) Gödel, Escher, Bach is a lot of fun.

Eh, I am actually sick of self-reference and logic. Spend most of my life getting high on the philosophy and logic supply, and I'm realizing there is far more human experience outside of that framework that I've been totally missing. Scientific rationality is great and all, but it's not even close to everything out there.

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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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