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PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   1632 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for November 16, 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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What are your friendships like these days?

Do you have a "best friend?" What is he or she like?

Do you spend much time with your friends? Are you trying to make more?

I am still in touch with my best friend from around age 8. Also in touch with HS and undergrad friends. Currently I have at least two very close friends in Japan, as well as a few drinking buddies from my doctoral program. A few female friends, one from childhood with whom I'll occasionally exchange emails though she sucks at staying in touch. One woman from college whose own kids are the age we were when we met. An artist. Used to quite fancy her until I didn't. I value old friends very highly and I consider myself loyal. I've been betrayed many times. Price of the ticket.

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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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