site banner
PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   1264 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for September 14, 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.

2
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Are there any legitimate gaming communities that are angry specifically about gamers and gamer culture being blamed for the Kirk shooting?

Utah Governor Spencer Cox on what radicalized the shooter - "Clearly there was a lot of gaming going on"

It feels to me like gaming qua gaming is completely absent from the modern culture war. Is this a real effect or an artifact of the fact that I don't play a lot of games anymore?

Think there are a few things to think about here:

  1. This is probably an area where international perspectives differ a lot. As I recall, Germany and Australia were the biggest proponents of the anti game side with numerous restrictive laws. I don't see any politicians for me in the UK or in the US talking about games that way, but perhaps there are holdouts elsewhere?

  2. For those nations that don't have any opposition, I think gamergate played a big role. In the past, the anti game side was largely right wing Christians, assorted boomers, and general cranks, while gamers themselves were mostly (perceived to be) young left wingers. As gamergate screwed up this traditional alignment, there's now little political benefit to being anti: you'll be hitting your own base as much as the enemy.

  3. But surely the biggest thing is that games are too big, too popular. Gamers grew up, and most of the working population have probably played games or continue to play them. Even in the "hot coffee" GTA days the anti side wasnt that popular, but now?

You still see some of the old guard of gun control debates try it at times, both from the right (and 'right') and the left. SAF and NAGR done a decent job at slapping it out of their spokesmen, but the NRA still has some old guard that leap to it. Been more common with the post-Remington lawsuits, but generally not in ways intended for public consumption (or even to reach a jury).

EDIT... and that apparently includes the governor of Utah.

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