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PaperclipPerfector  3d ago (text post)   2588 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for January 16, 2026

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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If you are looking for a meaningful way to engage with your nostalgia, I'll recommend Natalie Goldbergs book "An Old Friend from Far Away". You will remember more than realize. Its not a book for writing a memoir as a "here is my memoir please buy it". Definitely non-performative. But a way to spend up to dozens of hours digging into details about your life in a profoundly pleasurable and creatively meaningful way.

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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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