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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   3297 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for December 11, 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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I was a fairly early reddit user and I remember the day they announced "now we've got search working pretty much the way we want it to".

Everyone's reaction was like "Wait, really? Are you sure?"

Reddit search makes perfect sense if you assume that the goal is to keep people posting, and reposts are always going to be the majority of posts. Whether it's the same five jokes or memes getting reposted, or the same obvious beginner questions in /r/trucks or /r/kettlebell cut off reposts and a sub dies. Reddit with a search function that makes reposting unnecessary makes Reddit less active, less money coming in.

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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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