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PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   1561 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for March 29, 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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So, what are you reading?

I'm reattempting Burnham's The Machiavellians. Feeling a need to revisit the roots of neoconservative thought.

Started rereading The Dresden Files after my fiancés uncle kept raving about it. It’s a fun romp so far, though I had to laugh at all the “science hasn’t solved disease, or starvation, or war.” I’m religious myself, but science has a strong case for mostly solving all three of those.

But it hasn't. People still get diseases, they still starve, and there's still war. Science has mitigated the first two things, sure (it really can't solve war as that's a problem of the human heart), but it hasn't solved them.

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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.


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