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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   2890 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for December 19, 2025

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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The Road, Cormac McCarthy. I have it on good authority that this is an unpleasant read.

It's the most optimistic book that could possibly be written about an ailing father and thoroughly traumatized son in a world that no longer supports life. Seriously, it's heartwarming stuff. It will make you a better dad. The unpleasantness is only skin-and-flesh-and-bones-and-organs-deep; the whole point of the book is that there is a core of goodness that, if actively maintained, is invincible even in the face of certain annihilation.

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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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