site banner
naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   3575 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for December 4, 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.

5
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Why does Ross, the largest Friend, not simply eat the other five?

I've been trying to watch a few of the "Northern European" shows that have been streaming lately, 1899 and Elves are both at the top of my mind.

I don't understand what people get out of these shows. Characters don't react to things in recognizably human ways, they don't communicate with each other. No one expresses curiosity, no one remembers what other characters say, they seem to follow an internal script that doesn't match up with that's actually presented on screen. I'm reminded of Westworld Hosts shuffling through a hackey, rushed scenario with no actual human there to riff on it. My attitude really is becoming the meme:

Why does Ross, the largest Friend, not simply eat the other five?

I'm just not sure if what I'm seeing is due to Cheapness/badness. It's not bad ACTING, the production is all solid and competently staged. The IDEAS are there in the premise, they're just executed so shallowly I'm not sure the writers themselves understood them.

The American equivalent is excessive #CurrentYear dialogue and a gibberish handwave-y moral myopia.

Are regular Nordics/Germans actually this stiltedly dull in real life? Is there some sort of cultural context I'm not getting? I "understand" Anime, in that it has a lot of genre conventions, and I might be doing the equivalent of asking why the loser has a hot girl living in his closet, or why every fight is just characters standing still in a field while they internally narrate/charge up their ki blast.

This is in my head in particular because of "Troll." I've seen Shin Godzilla, and I've seen Trollhunter, and I just don't know how to relate to human beings who can't tell that two of those films are good and one is shit.

Also, feel free to complain here about bad TV that confuses and infuriates you. Maybe I'll feel less alone.

https://pastebin.com/raw/wVQH0LKq

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