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PaperclipPerfector  4mo ago (text post)   2835 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for December 17, 2023

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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So, what are you reading?

I'm starting a reread of The Count of Monte Cristo after recent mentions here. I don't remember a lot of the details and perhaps it will seem more profound this time around. The political aspect of Danglars' accusation wouldn't have drawn my interest in the past.

Still on Hurewitz' The Struggle for Palestine.

I finished Louise Perry's The Case Against the Sexual Revolution over the weekend.

I was broadly in agreement with her arguments. Anyone familiar with conservative(ish) complaints about the current sex/dating/marriage situation will find them familiar. But I agree with what Kvetch wrote in his review. The inescapable conclusion of her book is that women shouldn't or can't have full agency around their love lives, but she never actually says it explicitly.

I noticed the crazy woman in the comments. I can't imagine she convinced anyone of her position.

I think this is a great example of the fact that most of what you read on the internet is written by crazy people.

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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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