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PaperclipPerfector  11mo ago (text post)   3878 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for May 14, 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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Anyone else notice they are they getting downvote more often on the 'orange site' (for those who use it) or reddit or are getting much more negative pushback than usual? Or antagonism? I have at least. I am not referring to here. I think a lot of people are having a bad time, are struggling, and this is manifested in the form of increased anger online. It cannot be blamed on Covid anymore, as that was years ago, but it seems worse now than shortly after and during the pandemic.

What is "the orange site", if not reddit? I'm having trouble understanding the first sentence here.

FWIW, I stopped using reddit when the Motte migrated.

Hacker News / Y Combinator. I heard people say it's a bit less insufferable than reddit, but I never noticed.

it has sane moderators which usually keep the discussion within decent bounds and mostly on topic, and also it's too boring for most Reddit trolls.

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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."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


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