site banner
PaperclipPerfector  2mo ago (text post)   2691 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for February 2, 2025

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.

1
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Why isn’t Tesla stock crashing? The intersection between the set of people who care enough about the environment to buy an electric car, and the set of people who don’t hate Elon’s guts doesn’t provide much room for growth.

I live in pretty red area and I see quite a number of Teslas and recently some Cybertrucks around. I don't think it's only hardcore wokes who buy them. Tbh, if Tesla changed some of its approaches to control design (like relying on complex screen-driven interactions instead of large simple tactile physical controls) I'd be open to getting one myself (a Tesla, Cybertruck is too ugly for me). Electricity is not that expensive here, and for short commutes (which are like 80% of car usage for me) it makes total sense.

It's been 15 years and we still don't have an electric car that's focused on driving, and perhaps emblematic of this, there are no electric convertibles.

I just want a Roadster 2 (with the same level of tech and type of controls the original had) but with 4 seats and 1000 km of highway range: basically, I'm waiting for someone to build an electric Mustang (and not that stupid Mach-E crap). I'd feel much better having Coyote performance for the price of an Ecoboost and could accept a 30-minute charge time if my car performed that way, and I also want the paddle regen that some of the Hyundais have where you can choose how much engine braking -> weight transfer you want. At that point I might accept a screen for configuring those features only.

This isn't a complicated problem. Just offer me a regular car.

Wait, but a convertible is not a regular car. A regular car is Honda Civic.

(1) The Honda Civic is a bit bloated nowadays (base price 24 k$). Some people would say that a "regular car" is more like a Mitsubishi Mirage (17 k$) or a Nissan Versa (19 k$ with CVT).

(2) Cheap Civic-ish cars used to be available in convertible form. See, e. g., the Geo Metro.

Some people would say that a "regular car" is more like a Mitsubishi Mirage (17 k$) or a Nissan Versa (19 k$ with CVT).

Surely a "regular car" can't be one of the two cheapest cars on the market? One of which is discontinued due to lack of demand?

Surely a "regular car" can't be one of the two cheapest cars on the market?

I still see a lot of cheap 20-year-old Civics on the roads. And the US market is not the only market in the world.

One of which is discontinued due to lack of demand?

If the government has made all the regular cars unprofitable to sell, and effectively mandated that only bloated, expensive vehicles be sold, do the bloated vehicles become regular cars? I think the answer is "no".

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