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PaperclipPerfector  10mo ago (text post)   3167 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for June 18, 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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So, what are you reading?

Still on Coornhert's Synod on the Freedom of Conscience. So far "Gamaliel" has been winning the fictional debate with genuinely inspired words. Though it turns out that he's just Coornhert's stand-in. These words have reminded me of the value of reasonable expectations:

Thanks be the Lord who has allowed us to get this far in our debate.

Friend encouraged me to pick up Days of Rage but the library didn't have that so I got Public Enemies by Burrough instead to see what I thought of the writing style. I'm nearly done, and have really enjoyed seeing how easy it was to rob a bank in the 1920s/30s. The bank robbers all had better guns/cars/armor than the cops and the FBI was completely inept. I'm also amazed at the level of fingerprinting and other forensics that existed even back then, matching bullets and pulling prints from gas cans on the side of the road. I remember watching the Michael Mann movie of the same name but don't recall anything from it other than the cool digital photography and I think I remember the shootout at Little Bohemia (another incredible FBI bungle).

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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!

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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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