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PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   1752 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 25, 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.

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Writing prompt! Think of secret government agencies that take control of low-fantasy magic items, like Warehouse 13 or The Librarians or the warehouse in Indiana Jones.

Assume that on December 9, 1933, when King Kong died falling from the Empire State building, the Smithsonian took custody of the body and, on the orders of President Roosevelt, commissioned the creation of four enchanted monkeys paws. On December 22, Roosevelt wished on the first of 20 uncurled digits that America would be given an industrial rebirth to end the Great Depression. On the other side of the world, The Reichstag Fire Trial Verdict was acquittal of the Bulgarians, which came down against Hitler’s wishes. Furious, this ignited a fire in his heart that would soon consume all of Europe.

What other wishes have been made?

2016: Very lazily worded wish that Donald Trump would be the Republican nominee and "lose the vote".

2024: Very precisely worded wish that Donald Trump would be "shot in the head".

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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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