site banner
PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   2121 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for August 17, 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.

4
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Do you refuse to read LLM slop?

If a body of text has an em dash, I am not reading it. Not because "if you weren't arsed to write it, I'm not arsed to read it", okay a bit of that, but more so I have never read a piece of text that simultaneously contained an em dash and was good.

My employer forcing LLM use (justifiably so for some employees) IS NOT HELPING. https://old.reddit.com/r/ChatGPT/comments/123tyge/the_future_of_communication/

I can feel a sort of fatigue setting in for me. Talking to an LLM for hours a day is not effortless, I feel my social battery is drained much more so.

Conjecture: AI in the hands of those who don't have a coherent mental model of what actual productive work is (most white collar employees), is a net negative as they pollute the communication channels with more noise, and find themselves going in the wrong direction, faster. The mass effects of this give me the heeby jeebies.

It’s disappointing now that every time I write something interesting at work my coworkers ask if it was written by ChatGPT.

Wow, that really sucks.

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