site banner
PaperclipPerfector  12hr ago (text post)   434 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for July 10, 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.

Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

My partner and I are booked for a family dinner tonight, so I made some fresh sourdough bread and hand churned some butter to take with us.

Sometimes I wish that the economics of food service made sense. I don't think I'd mind the long hours and hard work.

In actually Michelin starred restaurants, it is not uncommon for servers to make $150k+ inc tips in NYC, which is probably more than, say, the average New York Times journalist. In France it is not uncommon to make 3x the (much lower) average wage, which is why you see perfectly respectable people in their fifties do the job.

Bartenders too can clear large amounts of money in tips in hip, expensive nightclubs. Tips for service as a percentage is rather non-sensical.

I'm sure some snobs would argue that the service in a Michelin starred restaurant is worth paying 10 times than that in a local diner, but as a thought experiment what would happen if you were to exchange the wait staff in both but keep the same food? You'd probably have a massively more popular "Michelin starred restaurant with diner staff" (probably barely less popular than it was with its original staff) than "local diner with Michelin starred wait staff", which tells me that the service is a lot less consequential than the food.

True but they tend to be attractive young people. Waiters are more diverse in terms of age.

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