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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   3741 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for November 27, 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.

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How many of you have a blog?

I'm thinking of starting to collect my random Motte posts / ones from others that inspired me and editing them a bit to make articles. I know a few Mottizens have blogs like @TracingWoodgrains and @ymeskhout have blogs, but how common is this strategy?

Mine is more of a newsletter with a website — but I suppose most are these days. Here it is: https://www.sonyasupposedly.com/

I like the hosting platform Ghost a lot, but Substack is probably better if you don't have an established audience yet.

Loved your brutality of life reading list. Now I have something to satisfy my pessimistic morbidity.

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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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