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naraburns  nihil supernum  5d ago (text post)   3234 thread views

Quality Contributions Report for June 2025

This is the Quality Contributions Roundup. It showcases interesting and well-written comments and posts from the period covered. If you want to get an idea of what this community is about or how we want you to participate, look no further (except the rules maybe--those might be important too).

As a reminder, you can nominate Quality Contributions by hitting the report button and selecting the "Actually A Quality Contribution!" option. Additionally, links to all of the roundups can be found in the wiki of /r/theThread which can be found here. For a list of other great community content, see here.

These are mostly chronologically ordered, but I have in some cases tried to cluster comments by topic so if there is something you are looking for (or trying to avoid), this might be helpful.

Quality Contributions to the Main Motte

@Skulldrinker:

@CrispyFriedBarnacles:

@faceh:

@Dean:

Contributions for the week of May 26, 2025

@grendel-khan:

@BreakerofHorsesandMen:

@hydroacetylene:

Contributions for the week of June 2, 2025

@gattsuru:

@FCfromSSC:

@CrispyFriedBarnacles:

@naraburns:

@IGI-111:

@Clementine:

@RenOS:

@OracleOutlook:

@Iconochasm:

Contributions for the week of June 9, 2025

@WhiningCoil:

@Rov_Scam:

@phailyoor:

Contributions for the week of June 16, 2025

@WhiningCoil:

@Shirayuki:

@Amadan:

@kky:

@5434a:

@Dean:

@magic9mushroom:

@CrispyFriedBarnacles:

@FiveHourMarathon:

@Tree:

Contributions for the week of June 23, 2025

@WhiningCoil:

@Dean:

@CrispyFriedBarnacles:

@kky:

@OliveTapenade:

@jake:

@self_made_human:

@gattsuru:

@OracleOutlook:

@zataomm:

@DuplexFields:

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Well, even though I haven't gotten one of these yet I'm glad that at least a few are coming from responses to me! Lots of them this time it seems.

I always count those ones as a half win.

I suppose in that case I have to credit @Chrisprattalpharaptr for making this post which I was served on the volunteer page.

Well I hope you voted to acquit or you have some terrible karma.

I seem to recall putting "neutral" and then changing it to "deserves a warning" on noticing the last paragraph (because seriously, that was vicious). I also seem to recall taking so long to do it that @Amadan had already actually warned you by the time I completed the form.

(I've given out "deserves a ban" before, but all the times I can remember were death threats. There are other things that'd get it, like doxxing or advocacy of specific terrorist acts, but those are pretty rare here.)

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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.


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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.

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