Maybe it's a generational thing. I don't recall ever seeing a friend answer a question contrasting two entities using that gesture. Or maybe it's cultural. I think people I like to talk to would never answer that particular question with a hand gesture. Instead, they'd be far more likely to earnestly explain the nuances or the lack thereof with actual verbal commentary.
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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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Notes -
Maybe it's a generational thing. I don't recall ever seeing a friend answer a question contrasting two entities using that gesture. Or maybe it's cultural. I think people I like to talk to would never answer that particular question with a hand gesture. Instead, they'd be far more likely to earnestly explain the nuances or the lack thereof with actual verbal commentary.
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