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PaperclipPerfector  10mo ago (text post)   2342 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for June 9, 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.

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What’s your favorite bird?

I’ve been watching the local Great Blue Herons. Majestic, yet goofy. Love ‘em.

I still want to go somewhere I can spot a Green Heron. Basically all the same advantages, but they tuck in their neck and look like a completely different bird. This amuses me.

Lately it's been the robin because it's sociable and likes to join in with the gardening.

Absolutely, the second I lift a bunch of dirst, at least one robin comes to check for bugs and worms. They're so bold compared to birds five times their size, they'll fly past my head and hop closer and closer, especially if I don't make sudden movements.

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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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