site banner
PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   1597 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.

0
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

I think it depends. If the person in question is working off some sort of actual evidence, some sort of documents, photos, recordings of an event, I’m willing to entertain the possibility, but I don’t see much benefit in just going off some other guy’s vibes.

I think JFK stinks to high heaven. (For the record I think it was Russian agents, but given the climate at the time, if they’d admitted that, earth would be irradiated by the following nuclear war). That’s not a weird one, and I’m certainly open to other possibilities including a failed defector pulling off a miracle shot by himself and running faster than Usain Bolt only to be captured and murdered on national TV before he could be deposed.

Well, it certainly wasn't a miracle shot, and he didn't have to run faster than Usain Bolt, for starters.

Well, it certainly wasn't a miracle shot,

I wonder how many people calling it a miracle shot (or something similar) have been to Dealey Plaza. I haven't been, but multiple people I've talked to who have been have uniformly commented that the distance of the shot is far, far shorter than TV would lead one to believe.

Per his Marine record, Oswald achieved a rating of 212 with the M1 rifle, two points more than that required for a "sharpshooter" qualification, which indicates that he could hit a ten-inch bullseye from at least 200 yards away, eight times out of ten – and that's without a telescopic sight, only using the M1's iron sights. The FBI considered his Mannlicher-Carcano rifle a very accurate weapon and found that it never misfired in numerous tests. The distance from Oswald's sniper's nest in the TSBD to the point on Elm where the fatal bullet struck Kennedy was, as you say, less than 90 yards, and Oswald had the benefit of a telescopic sight mounted to his rifle. And for all the talk of the supposedly "miraculous" shot, Oswald's first shot missed Kennedy entirely. You can count the second shot a miss as well, assuming that Oswald was aiming for Kennedy's head and struck him in the upper back instead (which might have been survivable). Firing at your target three times and only striking it on the third attempt hardly sounds "miraculous" to me.

A house cat can run faster than Usain Bolt. Don’t diminish my hopes for believing this conspiracy.

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