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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   1619 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for May 31, 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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So, what are you reading?

I'm finished with Sayers' Whose Body. Lord Whimsey was great, and it had enough intensity at times to grab my interest. I feel like the confrontation was a missed opportunity, given the convergence of themes which was implicit in the scene. A good read nevertheless.

Picking up Churchill's Savrola, because it has occurred to me that I've read more Hitler and Stalin than Churchill.

Finished my Worm reread. Incredibly good. Now I'm on The Story of Philosophy by Durant.

Story of Civilization I loved growing up. It was one of my first ‘broad sweep’ reads of history. The way him and Ariel wrote is so superficial without sacrificing depth, that type of literary style I have a great affinity for, and I actually re-read The Lessons of History maybe little more than half a year ago. Their work is now being made into audio format and might have finally completed. I bought the audio CD of Our Oriental Heritage 5 years ago(?) or so.

That's awesome! Yeah I wanted to read this one as a sort of tester, if I really like it I'll move on to the big one.

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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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