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PaperclipPerfector  10d ago (text post)   2389 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for April 20, 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.

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After trying for years, my wife is pregnant with our first. Any advice from the parents of the Motte? Books, bloggers, etc. I know about Emily Oster, but it is challenging to find solid advice for parenting.

Don’t freak out, you’ll be fine. There’s 10,000,000 people telling you how if you don’t do this or don’t do that you’ll ruin the kid. All of them are lying or delusional. Your kid will be fine with less than perfect, he will not be fine with parents that have driven themselves crazy.

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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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