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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.

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TheRealMcCoy

0 followers follows 0 users
joined 2022 September 13 16:20:42 UTC

User ID: 1178

TheRealMcCoy

0 followers follows 0 users joined 2022 September 13 16:20:42 UTC

No bio...

User ID: 1178

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Culture War Roundup for the week of April 22, 2024

TheRealMcCoy 5d ago

If you'd played quake like I did instead of doing schoolwork you'd immediately guess it means free for all

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Culture War Roundup for the week of March 11, 2024

TheRealMcCoy 1mo ago

As someone whose played basketball his whole life. Coaching in sport is also mostly a scam.

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Culture War Roundup for the week of August 28, 2023

TheRealMcCoy 8mo ago

Kobe "bean" bryant

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Small-Scale Question Sunday for August 27, 2023

TheRealMcCoy 8mo ago

I missed out on bitcoin. I'm thinking that the new weight loss drugs are going to hit it big. Even though in a few years when they discover that a major side effect is cancer and death they will go out of popularity.

Anyway, what are the parent companies whose stock I should invest it go get in on the major weight loss drugs success.

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Culture War Roundup for the week of August 7, 2023

TheRealMcCoy 8mo ago

Molyneux still has his podcast. But I haven't seen anyone mention him for years. He used to be quite viral back in the day

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Small-Scale Question Sunday for July 23, 2023

TheRealMcCoy 9mo ago

I read on this forum some time back that there is a saying in Russia that goes "a man shouldn't be prettier than an ape"

I'm been using the saying, but turns out that it isn't super widespread. I would like to quote it in the original russian. Could some other of our resident Russians tell me how to say it in Russian.

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Small-Scale Question Sunday for July 16, 2023

TheRealMcCoy 9mo ago

Yes. I'm now leaning towards pedofascism.

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Culture War Roundup for the week of May 29, 2023

TheRealMcCoy 11mo ago

Funny that. During the pandemic you had to show Id to get into grocery stores. And there were certain stores you were banned from altogether.

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Culture War Roundup for the week of May 22, 2023

TheRealMcCoy 11mo ago

What's the evidence that women are hurt by his nonchalantness?

They're fine enough to sleep with him at least.

Less anxiety in the world is better

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A Deep Dive into K-pop – Matt Lakeman

TheRealMcCoy 11mo ago

Somehow I don't think we're sending our best.

There's a saying in Asia for guys who go there to get laid, lah, or loser at home.

These women who are obsessed with Korean teens are I imagine women who won't be missed much back home.

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