site banner
TissueReligion  1yr ago (text post)   2508 thread views

Are there any other non-reddit forums you guys use?

Hey guys. Just registered, using the same account name as my reddit username. I thought it was interesting that we finally splintered off of reddit -- are there any other non-reddit forums you guys use? I know the nyc rationality group has a google group, but for the past 5ish years it's felt like every forum I use has been centralized on reddit, which has honestly been pretty convenient. Was just curious about other people's browsing habits.

Thanks.

13
Top Bottom New Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

DSL has some high effort stuff, which is half the reason I read there - look at the 'diadochi: alexander prize for effortposting' for some historical very high quality stuff, or the 'effort' tag for other effort posts.

It's a very similar audience to here, often some of the same people and it also descends from SSC and leans right - but I just looked and the current front page is pretty boring politics fantasy stuff

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