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PaperclipPerfector  7mo ago (text post)   2461 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for October 6, 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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In the context of a forum, I prefer shorter posts (1-2 paragraphs max) as they leave more room for interpretation and discussion, and are good writing prompts. Long, engrossing reads are better a stand-alone blog posts.

I will acknowledge that it's rare to see someone respond to the entirety of a long post, like really craft a response of equal depth that addresses all the main points in the parent post, simply because it's a lot of effort and most people won't want to spend the effort unless it's one of their pet causes. But a lot of times with long posts people will pick out one or two points and just respond to those, and that can generate a lot of interesting sub-threads.

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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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