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PaperclipPerfector  10mo ago (text post)   3516 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for January 19, 2024

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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214 upvotes on a post. Damn, I forgot how much bigger the Motte was 4 years back.

Great essay, it was a pleasure to re-read it

The enemies of the Imperium tend to be bigger, tougher, stronger on an individual level, but none of them have the Imperium's coordination and team work and that is what continually allows humanity to eek out victories.

Sadly not true. The Tau have a great deal more coordination and combined-arms doctrine (they fight like it's the 21st century and the Imperium like its WW2, or 1, depending on the author). Not to mention the inhuman death robots, or the Eldar.

What humanity has is a combination of numbers, a reasonable amount of tactics, a willingness to fuel the pyres of war with disposable bodies, the largest empire, and the rotting relics of a greater past, never to be embraced again (at least not while it's still Warhammer 40k).

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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!

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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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