The Motte

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!

#	Name
1	ArjinFerman
2	Snakes
3	HarebrainedScheme
4	netstack
5	FiveHourMarathon
6	2rafa
7	TheDag
8	Lewyn
9	wlxd
10	madeofmeat
11	Zazen
12	4bpp
13	bro
14	grognard
15	Porean
16	doglatine
17	Iconochasm
18	SecureSignals
19	Crake
20	catast
21	urubu
22	Exotic_cetacean
23	sun
24	kruasan
25	Ioper
26	Tollund_Man4
27	VelveteenAmbush
28	ThenElection
29	Sinity
30	Chrisprattalpharaptor
31	RococoBasilica
32	WestphalianPeace
33	sansampersamp
34	jacksonjules
35	f3zinker
36	KulakRevolt
37	ccc
38	Eetan
39	Ben___Garrison
40	KaiserReinhard
41	No_one
42	thomasThePaineEngine
43	retired_user
44	LCEnzo
45	Solaire
46	meduka
47	TransgenicSolution
48	Unsaying
49	AmorFati
50	problem_redditor
51	SaruchBinoza
52	basalisk_respecter
53	ffrreerree2
54	innately_inept
55	Jim
56	MrNanahue
57	CloudHeadedTranshumanist
58	MaximumCuddles
59	VoiceOfLogic
60	Felagund
61	gilmore606
62	SeeeVeee
63	Marekar
64	AverageBear
65	marten

What is this place?

Why are you called The Motte?

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