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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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I have a standing donation to Nick Bostrom's Future of Humanity Institute. I just got an email from them cancelling my donation, explaining that the Institute is being shut down, although it hasn't yet been announced publicly.

Considering his Vulnerable World Hypothesis paper, good riddance.

What do you find so objectionable about it?

In the policy recommendations, the peace and safety aspect of it all reminds me of Thiel’s comment on the slogan of the Antichrist. This, like climate change, is not an actual existential threat but rather a coordinating mechanism for globalists to consolidate their power. Why would I agree to any hostile body of pilpul intent on subjugating and ruling over me? It must be resisted violently.

Any stated reason why?

None.

For the last few years it’s been primarily funded by Moskowitz, right?

No idea to be honest.

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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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