site banner
PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   1074 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for April 5, 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.

1
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

"Tech bro" and "finance bro" are well-known archetypes. That we don't have equivalents for other high-profile, high-status, high-paying fields like "law bro" or "med bro" probably says something, but what exactly?

I feel like law and medicine do have some of those stereotypes but they are usually only within subfields. Like surgeons are supposedly the jocks of the medical profession. The show Scrubs describes some of the stereotypes.

Lawyers also have their stereotypes with corporate lawyers being the boring ones. Rich defense lawyers being morally bankrupt. Prosecutors being aggressive career climbers. Etc.

I think the main unfairness to tech and finance is that a small subset of them that deserve the label is being use to describe the whole industry. Silicon valley was great for splitting up and labelling the various tech archetypes.

like surgeons are supposedly the jocks of the medical profession. The show Scrubs describes some of the stereotypes.

Yes just so.

Ortho, Pathology, and Internal Medicine are probably further apart in temperament and day to day work than a Lawyer, Tech-bro, and Finance-bro.

This makes us much harder to stereotype although there are definitely some (like being bad at finances).

This makes me curious where your temperament lines up with the stereotype of your subfield.

Thankfully I'm a tremendously non-central example otherwise I couldn't write here. I'm sure someone who knew me very well in person would peg me immediately, which is a risk - in terms of more general opsec and guessing my specialty... my combination of rambling detailed knowledge and pontificating bullshit doesn't really meld with the periodic grumpy cursing incisiveness.

Those are pretty firmly going in two different directions stereotype wise.

I supposed I best fit the stereotype of an old-style PCP but they are pretty much dying out at this point.

I supposed I best fit the stereotype of an old-style PCP

Fooled me; I always figured that you were a crusty old GP!

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