site banner
PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   28890 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of April 6, 2026

This weekly roundup thread is intended for all culture war posts. 'Culture war' is vaguely defined, but it basically means controversial issues that fall along set tribal lines. Arguments over culture war issues generate a lot of heat and little light, and few deeply entrenched people ever change their minds. This thread is for voicing opinions and analyzing the state of the discussion while trying to optimize for light over heat.

Optimistically, we think that engaging with people you disagree with is worth your time, and so is being nice! Pessimistically, there are many dynamics that can lead discussions on Culture War topics to become unproductive. There's a human tendency to divide along tribal lines, praising your ingroup and vilifying your outgroup - and if you think you find it easy to criticize your ingroup, then it may be that your outgroup is not who you think it is. Extremists with opposing positions can feed off each other, highlighting each other's worst points to justify their own angry rhetoric, which becomes in turn a new example of bad behavior for the other side to highlight.

We would like to avoid these negative dynamics. Accordingly, we ask that you do not use this thread for waging the Culture War. Examples of waging the Culture War:

  • Shaming.

  • Attempting to 'build consensus' or enforce ideological conformity.

  • Making sweeping generalizations to vilify a group you dislike.

  • Recruiting for a cause.

  • Posting links that could be summarized as 'Boo outgroup!' Basically, if your content is 'Can you believe what Those People did this week?' then you should either refrain from posting, or do some very patient work to contextualize and/or steel-man the relevant viewpoint.

In general, you should argue to understand, not to win. This thread is not territory to be claimed by one group or another; indeed, the aim is to have many different viewpoints represented here. Thus, we also ask that you follow some guidelines:

  • Speak plainly. Avoid sarcasm and mockery. When disagreeing with someone, state your objections explicitly.

  • Be as precise and charitable as you can. Don't paraphrase unflatteringly.

  • Don't imply that someone said something they did not say, even if you think it follows from what they said.

  • Write like everyone is reading and you want them to be included in the discussion.

On an ad hoc basis, the mods will try to compile a list of the best posts/comments from the previous week, posted in Quality Contribution threads and archived at /r/TheThread. You may nominate a comment for this list by clicking on 'report' at the bottom of the post and typing 'Actually a quality contribution' as the report reason.

3
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

I hate this uncertainty.

I've always been an anxious person, worried for the future, etc. I've basically given up with AI, the world has gotten so ridiculous it's just funny.

I have no control, everything is going to change. Everything has changed a lot already in my lifetime. I'm just gonna ride it out, I had my friends over for a BBQ last night. Trying to do more of that this year.

From "On Living in an Atomic Age" by C. S. Lewis:

In one way we think a great deal too much of the atomic bomb. “How are we to live in an atomic age?” I am tempted to reply: “Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.”

In other words, do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation. Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb was invented: and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways. We had, indeed, one very great advantage over our ancestors — anaesthetics; but we have that still. It is perfectly ridiculous to go about whimpering and drawing long faces because the scientists have added one more chance of painful and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty.

This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds.

Love Lewis' writing but this is a bit like "just stop being anxious lol."

It'd still be nice to know that somebody, in a position of authority, somewhere, had a plan to clip the risks.

Faith in God is a great salve for this purpose, but for many they are just raw-dogging cold reality and need something tangible to pin their hope to.

hell yeah brother.

The thing about singularity-like situations, reliable prediction becomes impossible. Although technically I don't have to predict with real accuracy, just better than 90+% of the population. Beat the masses to do alright, provided we aren't all killed. You can fret about this, or you can let go and focus in on the tiny parcel of territory in the vastness of probability-space that you have any influence over.

In my most primal moments, I sometimes think I should literally just locate the most physically enticing female I can attract (and compromise on everything else because what else matters if AGI hits?), liquidate most of my assets except like $100k kept in the S&P, and shack up in my house to have gratuitous amounts of sex, get all my groceries delivered, and just fuck around with AI art generators and see if I can make a bit of money off them before whatever comes next washes over us.

But man, it turns out somebody still has to do the hard work of keeping civilization turning so we can keep the lights on until we can finish the silicon god (or the false idol). Those data centers and nuclear plants won't build themselves. Yet.

I despise people who do that stupid "permanent underclass" posting, specifically to drive anxiety without any actionable outlet.

I had my friends over for a BBQ last night. Trying to do more of that this year.

Strong recommend. I've focused on keeping the friendships I have as strong as possible. Say "yes" to more social invites than you used to. As long as the activities don't kill you before we reach utopia, why spend this exciting time hunched over a desk or lying in bed doomscrolling?

But man, it turns out somebody still has to do the hard work of keeping civilization turning so we can keep the lights on until we can finish the silicon god (or the false idol). Those data centers and nuclear plants won't build themselves. Yet.

I have to admit, I have no idea how society is still supporting itself right now. Almost everyone I know is intentionally not working, including myself (got burned out and retired 6 months ago). When I can make crazy amounts of money in tech, then sit back for the rest of my life and have people deliver DoorDash meals to me ... well, who's doing the actual work holding everything up? Some dedicated cadre of 10x engineers?

Sure wish I had the social skills to implement your gratuitous-sex suggestion, though. Not that I think we're in a true singularity - I expect the world to look pretty different in 10 years, but not an unrecognizable ASI dys/utopia. So maybe put the heroin away for now...

I have to admit, I have no idea how society is still supporting itself right now.

Something I wonder about almost daily.

Almost everyone I know is intentionally not working, including myself (got burned out and retired 6 months ago).... well, who's doing the actual work holding everything up?

Like a chump, I still have to go to work and accomplish things.

Almost everyone I know is intentionally not working, including myself (got burned out and retired 6 months ago).

Its hard to tell for sure, but everyone I know is now working harder than before to keep things at baseline. Like, longer hours, or multiple jobs, and still falling behind.

And I'm talking almost all industries. Actuary buddy, senior pharmacist buddy, construction foreman buddy, IT buddies, and all my friends who are even tangentially connected to the medical field.

People in my circle seem to have less free time. It fits with the apparent stats that show more people dropping out of the labor force, the increase in people drawing on welfare/disability programs, and, of course, the silver wave of boomer retirees. They still consume services, demand products, but aren't on the productive side of the equation any longer.

Oh, and its possible deportations are causing issues too.

Most sit-down restaurants seem understaffed. Hospitals are teeming with patients. Any services you need to set appointments for are pushed out for weeks. Municipal governments seem to be struggling to perform their core functions in a timely manner. One symptom I've noticed is that most 24 hour Wal-Marts (and fast food places) went away after Covid and haven't come back. Every service I have availed myself of seems to be more expensive and less flexible/available due to sheer demand.

Just more work to be done, everywhere, than there are people available to do it, and yet tons and tons of people also consuming services, many of whom don't seem to be working, themselves?

who's doing the actual work holding everything up? Some dedicated cadre of 10x engineers?

The forbidden question.

I can't say for sure, I assume there's a group of people who just quietly and diligently do their work (competently) and collect their paycheck and go home and do whatever they do or raise their families without posting about it online and they are generally content.

The thing I do notice is that businesses that do keep things flowing and keep their prices reasonable often have some form of "slave labor" they draw on. Maybe its their kids, maybe its some barely-sober recovering druggie, or illegal immigrant, or a dude with clear mental deficiency who is nonetheless very functional once trained.

That is, people who are able to do basic labor day in and day out and aren't prone to demanding better pay, and may have some specific incapacity (maybe physical, maybe social) that makes them unlikely to quit.

That's not universal, I've seen the flip side, where an employer treats his people so well and compensates them generously enough that they're extraordinarily loyal and productive.

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