site banner
naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   4023 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for April 30, 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.

4
Top Bottom New Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

All of what you are saying is well and good but I think I need to reiterate we are talking about drinking water here, its probably on one of the easiest things to just do after breathing.

If people can be prescribed vegetables and exercise and eating less, Maybe water isn't the worst of it?

It is annoying how the same (not you) person who cackles at my inability to do simple chores

No sympathy for this at all. Its not an immutable trait. The inability to do simple chores is

  1. Embarrassing

  2. Can be fixed in 30 minutes

  3. Why has it not been fixed

I understand there are weird quirks around willpower, but I think a vast majority of the time, it's just people being lazy and making excuses or just being too lush about things.

Not sure I agree. You assume that those who cant do simple chores cant do difficult ones either.

I personally have been pretty good about most things, and especially the hard stuff. But I do struggle to consistently drink water or fold laundry.

If anything, is exactly because I have so many important tasks at hand that the trivial ones fall to the wayside.

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