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bolido_sentimental  1yr ago (text post)   3351 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for December 25, 2022

Merry Christmas, everyone!

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Is there some sort of discord for this place?

There's a link to one in the sidebar: Astral Codex Ten Discord

What sort of monster would prefer synchronous to asynchronous communication, anyway?

Thought there was a motte specific one? If not we should make one.

I'm pretty sure there was a motte-specific one in the past, idk if it still exists

Someone mentioned it the other day. I asked but never got a reply.

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.


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