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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   1700 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for May 17, 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.

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I have three cats. Being a cat lover is like becoming an Epicurean, or a eunuch; you don't go back.

I’ll always love the quote, “A dog is a creature that assumes if you bring it food, you are a God. A cat assumes if you bring it food, they are Gods.”

It's not about food though. I mean sure, dogs need to eat, but beyond basic needs the level of food motivation varies very widely among dogs. What is much more common is a need for connection and socialization. So in dogs you get someone who is always glad to socialize with you, and in cats you get somebody who occasionally tolerates you socializing with them. If they're in the mood.

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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."

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