site banner
PaperclipPerfector  4d ago (text post)   2111 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for September 27, 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.

3
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Who here uses Tesla FSD? I finally got a Tesla after two of my friends nagged me to for years. And holy shit, the car drives itself. How does Tesla not have like 90% market share? Why are people still buying Fords and Volkswagens?

The government should be incentivizing the crap out of these. I asked Astra and it estimates the U.S. loses 0.9 QALY's per person due to vehicle accidents. We could probably reduce this by 50% at least just by rolling out FSD.

Speaking of Teslas: I've probably not going to buy a Tesla anytime soon, but I've been offered Teslas by rental shops several times and I've so far declined, because driving an unfamiliar car in unfamiliar environment is kinda risky. So I wonder what's the experience of people that did drive it - is there any adjustment from driving a regular car that is needed? Can I just start it up and freakin drive or do I need some adjustments? How easy/hard is to get a hang of it from 0 experience?

Also, if I try it as a rental, what about range anxiety? I sometimes need to drive up to ~100 miles or more in such situations, of course mostly through urban-suburban landscape so there's always a gas station within 5-10 mins drive, but I have no idea about changing a Tesla. I remember some years ago I was out on a trip with friends, and the guy responsible for transport picked an EV (not Tesla, don't remember which one) and it turned out a minor annoyance to change it because a lot of nearby chargers had some kinds of "guests only" or "clients only" policies. I wonder what's the score on that now.

Can I just start it up and freakin drive or do I need some adjustments?

Do you have any experience driving an EV? If not, you need to adjust your expectations with regards to the instant torque you get with them

I drove a hybrid, many times (which made little difference), but I don't think I've driven an EV. Probably need to figure out a way to practice on one in a safe environment, just in case...

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