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naraburns  nihil supernum  2d ago (text post)   Edited 2d ago   2921 thread views

Quality Contributions Report for August 2026

This is the Quality Contributions Roundup. It showcases interesting and well-written comments and posts from the period covered. If you want to get an idea of what this community is about or how we want you to participate, look no further (except the rules maybe--those might be important too).

As a reminder, you can nominate Quality Contributions by hitting the report button and selecting the "Actually A Quality Contribution!" option. Additionally, links to all of the roundups can be found in the wiki of /r/theThread which can be found here. For a list of other great community content, see here.

These are mostly chronologically ordered, but I have in some cases tried to cluster comments by topic so if there is something you are looking for (or trying to avoid), this might be helpful.

Quality Contributions to the Main Motte

@birb_cromble:

@Tanista:

@Muninn:

@self_made_human:

@DiscourseMagnus:

@gattsuru:

Contributions for the week of August 3, 2026

@Shakes:

@FtttG:

@quiet_NaN:

@iprayiam3:

@georgioz:

@birb_cromble:

@Tretiak:

@100ProofTollBooth:

@YoungAchamian:

@Aapje58:

Contributions for the week of August 10, 2026

@gattsuru:

@GBRK:

@Thoroughlygruntled:

@FtttG:

@zoink:

@georgioz:

@JeSuisCharlie:

Contributions for the week of August 17, 2026

@faceh:

@Shakes:

@ratherblather:

@Shirayuki3:

Contributions for the week of August 24, 2026

@hanikrummihundursvin:

@faceh:

@Shakes:

@RandomRanger:

@netstack:

@FtttG:

Contributions for the week of August 31, 2026

@thejdizzler:

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Ah, sorry, underspecified the thought experiment. The goal for the 'almost half' is to show that some people aren't persuaded or reseated in their positions. In the case of the oracle being asked about homeopathy and picking a pro-homeopathy side, it would be genuinely limited to incredibly weak arguments because no stronger honest ones exist, and a petitioner would only be confronted with a slightly clearly idea of what 'water memory' is supposed to be, and at most a slight 'isn't it weird' evidence that didn't have medical ramifications.

Similarly, the oracle can't persuade a homeopathy advocate who commits by having himself deafened before asking the question.

But those are a bit of a waste of a question. At best, you'd now be able to tell yourself you can out-think the oracle, or have slightly better arguments for a position you reasonably believe is already extremely strong. In these cases, you have no benefit to asking the question.

The thought experiment is more for questions in the middle, where you might have some confidence, but there are plausible arguments on each side. I don't, personally, like gun control, but there are sane arguments in its favor. If I asked this thought experiment's oracle, it could blast me with the most persuasive form of every verifiable argument for or against the policy. I might plausibly not comply, because there are underlying values assessments. Not optimistic -- I've changed my mind on this topic before -- but I'll recognize it as a possibility for the sake of the thought experiment.

The question is whether I should ask. The oracle is only providing information, and it's even information I can verify, so from that perspective it's totally beneficial. But it's also incredibly biased information, provided by something built to be as persuasive with that biased information as possible, and it demonstratably does change the beliefs of many people who speak to it and get a counterargument, or reduce the ability to doubt for many who it reinforces.

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.


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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.

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