Be advised; this thread is not for serious in depth discussion of weighty topics, 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.
Friday Fun Thread for September 23, 2022
- 74
- 7
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
- Courtesy
- Content
- Engagement
- When disagreeing with someone, state your objections explicitly.
- Proactively provide evidence in proportion to how partisan and inflammatory your claim might be.
- Accept temporary bans as a time-out, and don't attempt to rejoin the conversation until it's lifted.
- Don't attempt to build consensus or enforce ideological conformity.
- Write like everyone is reading and you want them to be included in the discussion.
- The Wildcard Rule
- The Metarule
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
I cited the rule you broke. You can argue all you like that you weren't ignoring the rules, but you ignored the rules. "Honestly and directly" does not mean you didn't ignore the rules. You are free to continue ignoring the rules and insisting you didn't ignore the rules, but if you persist in ignoring the rules, predictable consequences will follow.
Bro. Take a deep breath. There was nothing "culture war" about my post.
Learn to appreciate life and if you find yourself being overly critical, take a break.
Do stop being disingenuous.
We've been modding for a while, and your smirking "bro, calm down" act is not original. I assure, I'm very calm and I appreciate life greatly. I'll calmly ban you and appreciate life with one less bad actor if you are unwilling to conform yourself to the rules of the board.
You're probably too young to understand this, but your self value doesn't (shouldn't) derive to how much power you wield over people online.
Again, you may want to pause and reflect.
I'm older than you, which is why I recognize the script you are using.
I've indulged you this long on the off-chance that you weren't just playing a role, but since you've proven that this entire routine is just you trying to save face and reestablish what you perceive as the upper hand with a superior demonstration of snark and condescension, just be aware that continuing to do what you did before will result in a ban. That's not because I revel in wielding power, it's because I care about the quality of discussion here, which you are willfully degrading.
No I am not. It was a silly prompt which I responded to in a silly but plausible manner before you showed up at Defon one threatening to hit me with the banhammer.
How are you any different than the Reddit mods who force the Motte to move away from Reddit? Because I struggle to see a difference.
We answer your questions when you ask them and try to explain the difference of opinion.
Also, we aren't gatekeeping an international-tier discussion forum.
Bro called in reinforcements???
LMFAO
Nah, I was just browsing the thread because I was posting a new one. Easiest way to post a new one is copy/paste the text from the old one.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link