site banner
naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   2625 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for November 6, 2022

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.

4
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

What was your good turn for the week? In the past seven days, what was the nicest/most interesting nice thing you did for someone else? The boy scouts taught me to do a good turn daily, but I'll give us a week to make it easy.

Helped a friend move? Helped an old lady carry her groceries? Gave money to a homeless man after walking home from the strip club? Pulled a drowning dog out of a pond? Tell me about it. Tell me what minor altruism you did this week.

For me, some jackass dumped a pile of old mattresses down a steep bank along a road at the old church near me. It was upsetting to see them sit there every day, and the church's waste hauler wanted extra to take them, so I scheduled bulk pick up at 3 of our rental houses nearby, drove over and dragged them up the hill and into my truck, bagged them and put them out for collection. Now the neighborhood is a little cleaner.

But really? Littering on church property? Homeboy is headed straight to hell. That's a tough one to justify in the end.

I'll put you down as a benevolent dealer.

Also I gave a beer away from my six pack to a homeless guy in front of Walmart. Nothing makes a beggar light up more than a cold one. Not even money.

Paid for a restaurant dinner with my family-in-law. They can't afford that kind of thing, and they kept trying to slip the money back to my wife because they felt they couldn't accept it, but in the end they were happy. But I also can't take full credit because it was originally my wife's idea, so instead: Told the bakery cashier she had forgotten to bill me for something.

Honest man twice over.

When I go out with my father in law he will fight over the check. One of his brothers famously stole another brother's credit card and called the company to cancel it before a dinner, just to make sure that brother couldn't try to pay. So I trick him.

Rather than wrestle over the check when it comes, I excuse myself to the bathroom just after entrees arrive and give the manager my credit card and tell her to put the check on my card before they even bring it to the table. The check gets there already paid, returning my card with it. Checkmate, Persian dad!

Also the best way to do it on a date for you single dudes, avoids the awkwardness over who is paying (she wants you to, but she doesn't want to say she wants you to), it's suave as fuck.

Maybe I've just been lucky, but every girl I've dated has been happy going Dutch. It would annoy me if I had to pay everytime, though that's a small price all said and done.

Sure, I've never had a girl get actively annoyed that we went Dutch; and if asked most girls I've dated would insist on it. But when I sneak it in without her having to agree to it, when she just gets it without having to take responsibility for loving it, I've never met a girl who didn't love it. Don't ask just do it.

... Those 2 sentences sound creepy out of context.

I can't imagine dealing with tarof every day.

I made a cheesecake for my family even though I hate cheesecake (I made brownies on the side for myself).

I can understand how cheesecake as it's typically made could be a bit rich and cloying, but have you tried Japanese cheesecake? I haven't seen someone who hates it yet and I'm genuinely struggling to see how someone could.

I'm just fundamentally grossed out by cream cheese in all forms. This one was a Basque cheesecake, so a little different from regular cheesecake, but still a base of cream cheese.

You're wrong about cheesecake, but that incorrect view just makes your ultimate altruism shine the brighter.

If it doesn't have chocolate, it doesn't count as a dessert. But yes, I am truly a hero.

A cat adopted us at our summer cabin, but we couldn't take him to the city with us. My wife arranged a feeding schedule with our neighbor (he has a dog, so the cat wouldn't enter his home) and I built a winterized shelter for him in our greenhouse out of a cat house and mineral wool batts.

That's so nice for that cat! He'll be cozy all winter until you get back.

It's never enough, but at the same time if your friend gets the job you might just have changed their entire life.

I helped my mother fix PC issues related to her scanner. Does that count?

Why wouldn't it? I'm sure your mother was happy that her scanner works and happy you cared.

It's not altruism if I'm getting something in return (or have already gotten something in return and am therefore indebted).

Reciprocal altruism might not be the culmination of the evolution of virtue, but it's at least on the right path.

Sure but filial piety is a lost virtue, it's still a good thing to do even if it isn't altruism. It's positive to take care of people who took care of you.

It’s one of the prerequisites for Canonization.

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!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats