site banner
naraburns  nihil supernum  5mo ago (astralcodexten.com)   1923 thread views

ACT: Hardball Questions For The Next Debate

astralcodexten.com

I'd guess the vast majority of you read Astral Codex Ten regardless of whether it gets posted here, but Scott's latest culture war (adjacent) post is not to be missed.

14
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Right, that poem in hexameter with the constraints of half the vowels forbidden was Scott flexing on the rest of us wordcels, I'm in awe.

The hardest flex of him is in the comments:

I've never understood why people think English is bad for dactyls. I really like them and wrote a piece entirely in dactyls once to see what would happen: https://slatestarcodex.com/2015/08/17/the-goddess-of-everything-else-2/

WOW this has made me think of that post in a new light. Read it at least four times and had no clue.

Many people have said this! I'm torn between "I guess I wasted my time doing this" and "people seemed to find it beautiful, and I wonder if it's because subconsciously they noticed it was poetry even if they couldn't exactly put their finger on why."

A dactyl is a long syllable followed by two short syllables.

Dactyls are easy though? I remember arguing with my teacher in 4th grade that they sounded a lot better and were easier to write than iambic pentameter. I didn't know they were called dactyls at the time but I wrote in that style because it seemed so much easier and more natural.

No I don't believe you, it's a type of dinosaur 😌

Yeah, Scott is talented in both prose and poetry to a level I struggle to see myself ever reaching, but that's alright, I'm content in being far above average myself.

but that's alright, I'm content in being far above average myself.

In prose, poetry and humility?

2/3 is a passing grade right?

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