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ymeskhout  2yr ago (text post)   5463 thread views

What is your favorite Motte post ever?

I'm curious about not just what your favorite post is, but also what you think is the GOAT, or perhaps what you think is most illustrative and representative of this space (e.g. what would you show someone to get them intrigued). Please limit your post to only ONE pick and briefly explain why you chose it. This can be from anywhere within the Motte's history thus far, and r/TheThread is a good place to check in case you're having trouble finding something. Asking for a friend.

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I wish i knew who any of these people are or what they posted.

Try searching r/TheThread for their usernames to find their Quality Contributions.

the old threads are available, and are full of interesting things.

endlesss scrolling through omnibus threads... no thanks. And without even knowing what year these best writers posted in?

No thanks. Keep your esoteric knowledge.

That's neither a surprising nor an unreasonable position, but I think people seriously underestimate the value of long-term perspective in the culture war. A lot of insights are inaccessible if you can't follow the conversation long-term. As for years, just pick a significant political event, and find the thread from the corresponding weeks. The Kavanaugh confirmation, Covington, the Smollett accusation, and Floyd are the ones that spring to mind for me, but for pretty much any significant political event of the past several years, the corresponding threads are going to have some of the best analysis you can find on the subject.

Good point but I think the moderators, god bless 'em, are attached to this roundup style that is horrible for archives and frankly a vestigial leftover from its former attachment with Starslatecodex.

Sometimes I think that the Motte is among other things, a living testament to Scott Alexander's (prudent) cowardice.

But you are right about time and perspective. But even if I wanted to look for Kavanaugh commentary that's somewhere between 8-10 possible threads I have to wade into until I find what im looking for.

Iirc, there was a Kav megathread or two.

Seriously, I feel like I am in one of those reddit "Post your favorite facts!" threads where no one posts any links or sources. But people here seem to know what other people here are talking about, so maybe I am still very noob.

IIRC, Penpractice posted a lot of HBD stuff, in a way that eventually started to come across as hiding his power level sort of way. TP0 was sufficiently researched and eloquent as to not be suppressing much, power level wise, but had this bad habit of losing his cool after backs-and-forths with opponents, and after that got him banned he just kinda never came back.

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.


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