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PaperclipPerfector  10mo ago (text post)   2565 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for July 7, 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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There recently was a post about how another poster wants to host other motte users as couch surfers.

I want to do something similar. At free of cost. (You will have to find your own accommodation)

  • I like playing tour guide.

  • I can give a tour of my city that no other tour guide will offer. I know the places with "character". But it won't be only that. It will be a mix of the touristy and the local things for a more "complete" experience. No such other service exists because tourists are normies.

  • I have a good car. (Think Uber plus level)

  • I can save you a lot of money. By showing you good hotels and places to eat and things to do that are not tourist traps.

  • We can discuss motte'ish topics. I will specifically go to places where there will be things to point at and talk about.

  • Can introduce you to other rationalist adjacent people so that you have a group of temporary "friends" while on your trip.

How do I do this without doxxing myself? I don't particularly care about being doxxed. But some info-sec is required to keep away malicious actors, etc. Perhaps we take a path of mutually assured destruction, I don't know.

What do I gain from this? I like playing tour guide.

Why Mottizens in Particular? Because I've had better experiences, better enough to justify the time/money on my part when there is a common worldview/values/interests/IQ, in short, be a good fit for a conversation partner.

Let me know any pros or cons of this I am overlooking.

I think you should try and vet primarily through offering this to the people here you're familiar with and trust. Beyond that, it's always a risk!

This may have been me actually - I'd also be down to host and visit. I'm still a year away from being able to go international for vacation but psyched to see the interest.

This is an interesting idea.

Despite having a guest room, and wanting more guests, I would probably not participate. My husband already thinks I do too little to maintain anonymity online, and he is more careful about it than I am. Also, logistics of going everywhere with four people, and I'm quite out of most people's way. But it is appealing.

Nice idea, I would actually do this too. I have a guest bedroom and everything. I guess the tricky part is that you'd have to disclose to everybody what city you're in, so they'd know if they're going to be passing through or not. I don't necessarily mind that but I see the trouble.

I wonder where such information could live, too. Posting in this FFT, it'll quickly be lost/forgotten.

I think easier would be if the tourist broadcasts where they are going and the hosts reach out to them.

I understand, major potential for abuse in addition to potentially ruining the pseudonomous nature of the space and the benefits that provides.

Im sure there is a technological/encryption solution that can facilitate this process.

-you don't have to show them your id.

-if you stuck to people who've been here a long time, especially once it's more established, that should prevent most bad actors. There's probably voluntary auxiliary thought police scraping this site in the never ending fight against 'fascism', but bad actors who'd pretend to be here for the debate for years seem .. implausible.

-getting personal info of people based on their license plate - is that easy in the US? It's not in Europe, generally speaking.

IIRC, there was a fairly big scandal when it was found storage of Swedish license plate register was outsourced to IBM and dozens of their remote admins had complete access to it.

Sounds great! I recently visited a couple of Mottizens on a trip and it was a lot of fun.

As for doxxing, I mean anyone visiting will assuredly find your identity pretty easily. I would say if they’re a relatively level headed and consistent poster you don’t have anything to worry about. Just keep all the info in PMs or another service.

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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."

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