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PaperclipPerfector  22d ago (text post)   3727 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for May 26, 2024

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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Are there any remaining sufficiently large online spaces that tolerate spicy opinions and aren't jannied into oblivion? I have this unending urge to scream into the void, but don't want to pollute this place and reddit is a non-starter.

Yes. Twitter, 4chan, kiwifarms, and rdrama. /r9k/ is probably your best bet if you want it to go viral because people stalk it for things worth screenshotting to discuss on other platforms.

It's worth noting that the administrator of Kiwi Farms is hostile to people who join the forum solely for arguing about politics rather than for the forum's actual purpose of laughing at lolcows.

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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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