site banner
PaperclipPerfector  10mo ago (text post)   2538 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for June 23, 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.

2
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

What is your budget breakdown, or in other words how much of your budget do you spend on hobbies or video games or fun things?

Below 1%. Single-income family, one small child, over a third of my income goes straight into rent.

Wife gets about 2% per month as pocket money. We try to spend less than 5% per week on groceries, but it's usually closer to 8%, and the difference is probably things we didn't need, so we try to cut down on whatever it is.

When I get myself something for fun (almost always either a book or a game, lately), I try to get it for free. I that's not an option then I try to get it at a steep discount. If that also isn't an option, then I usually skip it and give up. Can't really justify wasting substantial amounts of money on entertainment products when we're just about scraping by.

5% of your income is already a rate. "5% per week" doesn't make any sense.

Oh, pedantry! Income is monthly, grocery shopping is weekly.

So you're spending 5% of your monthly income per week? Doesn't that mean you're spending 22% of your income on food? That doesn't sound right. I must be misunderstanding.

No, that's about the size of it. I may have used incorrect terminology though, please forgive a non-anglophone. These purchases include food, diapers, soap, beverages and the like. Any articles that are rapidly used up and bought in a supermarket.

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