site banner
PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   919 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 18, 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.

1
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

This feels like such a clear monkey's paw situation.

You said trade for athletic ability, but then you get injured. Or you get drafted by the Jets.

And in a fair trade, my intelligence (top 1%, but by no means historic) wouldn't get me NFL starter money, maybe on a practice squad.

I also think that we probably underestimate how smart your average NFL athlete is, the theory that NFL athletes are idiots is mostly copium created by the mediocre. They seem stupid talking about the world outside football, but then some of the smartest men I know seem like complete morons the moment the topic of feeeeeeeemales comes up. I don't believe in types of intelligence, but I do believe in fields of intelligence and fields of interest.

Of course it’s a monkey paw situation because if I didn’t create a tension then there wouldn’t be something to debate. I 100% the average NFL player is average to above average intelligence. Judging by responses it seems like people really don’t like the idea of giving up intelligence.

Not sure what it is about NFL WR but a lot seem to have poor impulse. I can pick a less of a Catspaw than you get to be AB or Tyreek Hill. You can be someone like Jerome Bettis. I don’t think he’s stupid but I doubt he’s on the right tail of IQ. Hasn’t been to jail. Seems to have a likable personality. If we are being honest he probably has a better QOL but I would still hate to give up thinking skills. AB is broke and probably does end up in jail today so I’ve removed the super negative catspaw.

NFL players have a decent-ish IQ proxy on file and their intelligence varies by position quite a bit; QB’s mostly would be honor roll students if they’d studied(QB’s, of course, are expected to study football, not academic subjects), D-linemen would… not.

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