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PaperclipPerfector  11mo ago (text post)   3954 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for November 26, 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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Does listening count? Currently listening to Fear and Loathing in the New Jerusalem, Darryl Cooper's ~25 hour long podcast on the origins of the Israel-Palestine conflict. About 5 hours to go. It's really good. It does sometimes feel like it gets bogged down in detail but if you like detail then that might be a bonus. And it certainly answers the "what is these people's deal anyway" question for both sides of the conflict. Probably biggest highlight for this space is at one point he mentions Scott's essay Meditations on Moloch.

Does listening count?

It always counts.

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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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