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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   2443 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for April 9, 2023

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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Are you able to post substack links on twitter? Is there a warning popup when you click the link after posting it? Or how about like + retweet substack? It all works for me.

Twitter was temporarily imposing extra restrictions on links to Substack. Links: 1 2

Friday, I couldn't retweet or see replies to a tweet that had a substack link. Yesterday, I was able to do both to another tweet by the same person with the same substack link.

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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."

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