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PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   1414 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for May 11, 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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I feel like I am misremembering some old version of the rules of this place. The term is "enlightened Buddha principle". It meant something along the lines of: each post has to meet at least 2 out of 3. And I think one was kind, another was necessary, third I am unsure. The sentiment is still present in the rules.

I tried searching but Buddha and enlightenment are such a strong keywords that it overrides most results. LLMs proved useful. And I found Socrates triple filter test:

  1. Is it true?
  2. Is it necessary (or useful)?
  3. Is it kind (spoken with goodwill)?

If a statement can't pass all three it shall not be spoken (posted). So that seems to be close. But it lacks the 2 out of 3 part.

So my question is whether there was such rule? If it was called that? Or am I only misremembering while keeping with the general sentiment?

Slate Star Codex: The Comment Policy Is "Victorian Sufi Buddha Lite"

There is an ancient Sufi saying beloved of the Buddha, which like a surprising number of ancient Sufi sayings beloved of the Buddha, originates from a book of preachy Victorian poetry. It goes:

Before you speak, let your words pass through three gates; At the first gate, ask yourself, is is true? At the second gate ask, is it necessary? At the third gate ask, is it kind?

Slate Star Codex has lower standards than either ancient Sufis or preachy Victorians, and so we only require you to pass at least two of those three gates.

If you make a comment here, it had better be either true and necessary, true and kind, or kind and necessary.

This policy is cited in the sidebars of /r/slatestarcodex and /r/culturewarroundup, but not in that of /r/themotte.

Thank you very much, exactly what I was looking for! I was looking through internet archive version of /r/themotte but did not consider /r/slatestarcodex Obvious in retrospect as I suspected that the term originated with Scott.

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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."

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