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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   3458 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for February 12, 2023

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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Relatedly, I've noticed a lot more inane and just plain stupid comments on ACX posts these days. (example, another).

Maybe I'm looking at the past through rose coloured glasses, but I can't remember this sort of thing back on SSC. After wading through enough emoji reacts and "lol so true!!", I get annoyed and close the tab. It's frustrating that a growing percentage readership feels this is meaningful participation.

Can those sorts of comments not be jannied?

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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."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


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