site banner
PaperclipPerfector  3d ago (text post)   2262 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for January 30, 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.

2
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Who here makes extra payments on his mortgage? Or has a paid-off house?

I make extra payments, and looking through my amortization table just now I was incensed to learn that a full 75% of all of the reduction in our loan balance is solely due to our extra principal payments! What in the scam? (Edit: I guess I have to clarify that I am not retarded and do not believe that a 30-year mortgage is literally swindling me through nefarious trickery.)

Further, to say nothing of the compounded benefits, we have a present-day benefit in the form of $2,000 of saved interest, and we're still very near the beginning of our loan term! It's obvious when placed next to an amortization schedule that assumes we only make necessary payments.

(2/1/2026 Loan Balance)minimum payments - (2/1/2026 Loan Balance)extra principal - (sum of extra principal paid) = ~$2,000

Where I live, the mortgage interest payments are income tax deductible so I am basically on purpose not paying off the mortgage just to "benefit" from the sweet front-loaded interest payments. Talk about perverse incentives.

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