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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!

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AvocadoPanic

1 follower follows 12 users
joined 2022 September 05 12:43:37 UTC

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User ID: 550

AvocadoPanic

1 follower follows 12 users joined 2022 September 05 12:43:37 UTC

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User ID: 550

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Culture War Roundup for the week of September 5, 2022

AvocadoPanic 2yr ago

I'd be curious as to the contribution of rich ethnically French women to that statistic.

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Culture War Roundup for the week of September 5, 2022

AvocadoPanic 2yr ago

I believe even in Germany you can say as few as 2 million jews died in the holocaust without it being holocaust denial.

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Culture War Roundup for the week of September 5, 2022

AvocadoPanic 2yr ago

I like the argument that exclusion through execution shaped western countries.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/147470491501300114

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Culture War Roundup for the week of September 5, 2022

AvocadoPanic 2yr ago

Diversity of what sort?

1 Corinthians 5:11 would exclude many, welcomed by many denominations today.

An abundance of diversity and pride has fractured many churches.

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Culture War Roundup for the week of September 5, 2022

AvocadoPanic 2yr ago

Do you have any examples of any current stable polygamous societies?

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Culture War Roundup for the week of September 5, 2022

AvocadoPanic 2yr ago

Seen this?

It's only Law and Order, but it's about what I expected.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2856766

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Culture War Roundup for the week of September 5, 2022

AvocadoPanic 2yr ago

I've tried the first couple episodes, I just don't care about any of them so far. I find myself hoping the dragon will go on a Tyke rampage killing everyone.

Part of the attraction to fantasy for me is escapism. If they drag in all the worst elements of current year I don't see the point.

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