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PaperclipPerfector  4d ago (text post)   2477 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for March 8, 2026

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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Feel free to ping any mod you've seen around recently, they're good sports about this stuff. I think I saw some @self_made_human poasting just now, can you help out?

Yup. I've let it out of the cage, @ControlsFreak

Thank you! It's a chonker.

For what it's worth, you can use the contact us option in the sidebar to message (all) mods. But it's probably just faster to ping or DM us, I know that I rarely check the general mod mail.

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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."

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