site banner
PaperclipPerfector  14hr ago (text post)   598 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for May 10, 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.

Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Our feeds must be very different. I have seen zero discussion about the virus on The Motte, but stories keep popping up in my news feed while I have seen various subreddits bringg it up over the last few days, including today. And of course, the WHO currently has multiple articles about the virus on their front page. This seems like a lot, but it could of course just be the algorithms screwing with me.

Our feeds must be very different.

Probably, as I have zero interest in American media or general purpose forums, what with living in Finland and all that. It is possible that the American media is sensationalist but The Motte is an international forum so a generic "why do people care" is going to be taken as "why do people everywhere (in the west at least) care" to which the answer is "actually they mostly don't seem to care".

This is the latest news here about the virus (article is in Finnish and text copy pasted here in case paywall goes up - you'll need to use google translate or something). It seems to have a very "This is very interesting but it doesn't have any effect on us" sort of approach to me.

Top story on the BBC today, as well. I also don't know why. But I stopped trying to fathom the news cycle years ago.

I also don't know why.

Imagine there was an Ebola outbreak on a cruise ship. That would obviously also be story even though there is no risk of global pandemic or spread in western countries.

A deadly virus (in the very literal sense) outbreak in such situation is always newsworthy even though there is little risk of it spreading further.

It's not just you. It's the top story on APnews this morning. It's been one of the top stories on there for the past week.

And one of the stories this morning is alarmism about the CDC not getting involved, which is a nice 2-for-1 of virus and Trump alarmism.

If it really is just alarmism, it just seems so irresponsible to me. I understand that the incentive of a capitalist society is to profit at any cost. But I also believe that journalists have a duty to accurately inform the population and not poke at their anxieties for no good reason. If they go too far into sensationalism and making baseless claim, they lose their purpose and reason for existing. The value they provide to society will degrade until it is completely gone.

You're not wrong, but I will admit slight surprise that anyone is only now, in this particular news cycle, realizing this. I've had nearly a verbatim thought for, oh, twenty years or so now.

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