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PaperclipPerfector  7mo ago (text post)   2711 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 13, 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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I see some posters that for some reason can't stay civil here and get routinely banned, but then are able to keep a civil tone over in the ACX open threads, even when talking about politics.

What gives???

Do we still have posters like that? Most people who can’t stay civil got weeded out already.

Are the exact same political issues being discussed at ACX?

I don’t think there’s anything about TheMotte that’s particularly conducive to uncivil discourse, outside of the emotionally charged topics that get discussed.

Mainly thinking of Deiseich. She comments on US election posts on ACX fine but got banned from here IIRC.

Deiseach has always been very snappy & grumpy, and tends to respond to any authority with sneering contempt. Even at ACX at least to me it seems less like she behaves better, it's just that Scott cuts her more slack.

Yeah I guess @Amadan is just too based for that shit.

I valued her posts here greatly and I still think that chasing her away was a bad call.

There’s no point in enforcing the rules on a purely formal level if said enforcement decreases the overall quality of the forum.

Yeah I kind of agree. I feel the same about Hlynka.

This place is much less interesting without these big personalities. I wish they had gotten a bit more leeway, even if they were annoying to keep in line.

A sufficiently big personality doesn't find any amount of leeway to be enough.

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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