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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   1431 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for June 5, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Astral Codex Ten 2026 Book Review Contest submissions thread

My top 10:

Honorable mentions:

I love the Storm of Steel review (I'm biased).

I love how the Kakistocracy review starts off with the classic girl-writing move of "you wouldn't believe how gross this guy I dated was! He slept on a stained mattress in his mother's basement, and oh wow you wouldn't believe what he made me do on it - what a loser!"

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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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