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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   33055 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of April 24, 2023

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I got an automatic red

Rule Violation: Warning for Promoting Hate

The Reddit admin team has been alerted that you’ve violated Reddit’s rule against promoting hate.

Reddit is a place for creating community and belonging, not for attacking marginalized or vulnerable groups of people. We don’t tolerate promoting hate based on identity or vulnerability, and any communities or people that encourage or incite violence or hate towards marginalized or vulnerable groups will be banned.

for using the word "faggot" on /r/4chan , which a few years ago was considered a brotherly greeting. What do regular people think when they get these notices? I remember when the 'wokest' subs like Shitredditsays started enforcing such rules, it was widely mocked. Now the entire site is an experiment in social control. I don't know what happened that we handed these mediocrities the keys to the castle.

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.


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