site banner
PaperclipPerfector  10mo ago (text post)   4054 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for January 14, 2024

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.

3
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Not really, no.

In terms of most convincing, the first time I had sleep paralysis it was preceded by an erotic dream. I was having the dream and then "woke up" to the feeling of something sitting on my chest and having the image of a black demonic creature with red burning eyes (similar to this painting, which I believe I had already seen at that time). I mumbled my way through the Lord's Prayer until I woke up fully.

After waking up, I fully understood how someone could genuinely believe they had been visited by succubi / incubi. For me, it was sorted by continuing to have instances of sleep paralysis (usually not preceded by erotic dreams and with a whole menagerie of creatures of different forms tormenting me) that did not conform to that pattern until I improved my sleeping habits, at which point the sleep paralysis became much rarer.

Were you able to close your eyes during sleep paralysis?

I honestly can't remember with certainty- I can say for sure that sometimes my eyes were open and sometimes they were closed and there were cases on both fronts where I did not "see" whatever happened to be plaguing me, but "knew" with clarity what it was and where it was. But I do not recall specifically closing or opening my eyes during an episode.

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