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PaperclipPerfector  3d ago (text post)   1893 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for May 3, 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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Does anyone here work in the IT industry? Would anyone happen to know of anything someone can do to get a leg up potentially become full time during an internship (Network Engineering).

Find someone who's been around the block to take you under their wing, ideally a striver and/or middle manager. Endear yourself to them, but don't be cringe.. They can help you get promoted, find a better position in the company as they advance in their career, or help you get your foot in the door if they leave for a better place.

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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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