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PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   916 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for August 10, 2025

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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So, what are you reading?

Still on Red Dynamite: Creationism, Culture Wars, and Anticommunism in America.

Battlefield Reclaimer (Guardians of Aster Fall book 1) by David North.

For anyone that's also reading the Hollows series, by Kim Harrison, I want to freely confess that in an abnormal twist, my brain has subbed in not one but two real-life actors for certain folks in the series, due to their particular mannerisms of speech: Algaliarept (Al) is Matt Berry through and through while Giordan Pierce has the voice of Richard Ayoade whilst looking more like Dave Chappelle's Silky Johnston. Said brain doesn't care that the looks are all different, it just sees the speech, pattern matches it to actors, and, well, it's certainly adding to the entertainment value of the series for me.

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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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