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PaperclipPerfector  9d ago (text post)   2972 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for June 14, 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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If you could maintain your current standard of living with any job, but you had to have a job, what would you choose to do for work?

I miss tutoring. I was never able to earn enough income to live the lifestyle I have today - so that's quite the pipe dream.

I'd love to see if other people find my research skills valuable. My current job does not, even if I'm finding potential clients they've never heard of before.

Thr common thread I keep pulling at is that I don't mind working, but other people don't seem to value the work I want to do. And that's quite demoralizing.

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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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