site banner
naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   3063 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for March 24, 2023

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

5
Bottom New Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

vastly underestimates the will to power of the strongly politically inclined people

Yes, but the power of the fleet-in-being that is the citizen capable of resistance sets the bar higher. (It doesn't have to be guns directly; the power to send resources to the groups resisting is also part of this calculus, which is why that was targeted in 2022.)

The IRA ultimately failed in its objective to drive the English back onto their own island because they didn't bother, or predicted (accurately or not) that they wouldn't have enough domestic population support, to start taking the fight to the enemy directly. Mexican cartel members, by contrast, are powerful enough to target the friends and family of soldiers that show up to fight them (as in, "they have names and addresses"), and non-combatants discouraging anyone who would fight a war opposing the cartel is a powerful cooling effect on the number of people who show up to that fight.

It isn't the politicians or the soldiers you have to worry about- the public has already accepted their deaths. Once the public's goals start impacting the public directly, though... well, people are terrified of depicting Mohammed partially for this reason.

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