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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   3226 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for August 28, 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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Maybe the thing on Wikipedia is itself bullshit

A lot of things on Wikipedia are bullshit. Anybody can write anything there, and it's only corrected if somebody else comes and corrects it. Sometimes there's nobody interested, and the nonsense stays up there for a long time. Russian Wikipedia (and any smaller wikis) is more vulnerable just numerically - less people participate, less coverage, less chance to fail to notice some bullshit somebody inserted there for lulz. If Claude does not trust Wikipedia, it's a point to its favor.

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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.


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