site banner
PaperclipPerfector  6d ago (text post)   2249 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for March 20, 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.

1
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Chuck Norris dead at the age of 86. RIP.

The reason I'm putting it in the fun thread is that my first exposure to him was via "Chuck Norris facts", an early 2000s internet meme so old that I think it literally predated the term "internet meme". These were outlandish examples of Norris's awesome skills in the cardinal domains of mortal combat, womanising and lovemaking. I think someone even gave me a paperback book compiling the best examples from the website of the same name. Aside from his very brief cameo in Dodgeball, I still have not seen any of Norris's movies or TV shows, nor do I intend to.

My favourite Chuck Norris facts:

  • Chuck Norris once went to the Virgin Islands. They are now called the Islands.
  • Wilt Chamberlain claims to have had sex with 20,000 women in his life. Chuck Norris calls this a "slow Tuesday".

an early 2000s internet meme so old that I think it literally predated the term "internet meme"

Ahem

The term "meme" was coined in 1976. That's three decades earlier than Chuck Norris Facts which appeared in early 2005. As far as old school internet memes go, Chuck Norris Facts is almost something of a newcomer compared to eg. All Your Base Are Belong To Us which did the rounds starting from 1999.

The word meme was was not commonly used to refer to internet memes until ~2008, and then only in contexts outside of where memes developed. There was a period where no one who made or disseminated memes ever referred to them as “memes” and doing so was seen as passé. This changed with the popularity of Reddit, but we have now returned to a period where memes are no longer referred to as such — contagious social transmissions are now “trends”, or just “images” if referring to images that go viral as reaction comments on shortform social media. It is an interesting fact to explore that the surest way to disrupt the popularity of a meme is to call it a “meme”, filing it away immediately at a category of ephemeral expression soon to be forgotten.

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