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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   3821 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for December 8, 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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Howdy fellow mottizens. I’m going on a cruise in a week. Any advice to make the most of it?

Bring Dramamine (or similar). Some people get motion sickness and some don't, but you won't want to be caught unprepared if you are one who does (speaking from experience here, I spent most of the one cruise I went on feeling miserable). And you don't want to pay the prices they're gonna charge in the ship's gift shop. If you are prone to motion sickness normally, you might want to consider one of those medicinal patches you can wear behind the ear. I've heard great things.

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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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