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PaperclipPerfector  3mo ago (text post)   2515 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for January 28, 2024

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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Let’s say there was an “anonymous mode” box on your profile. While checked, any comments or posts you made would be reassigned to a single, anonymous account. Mods would still be able to see who wrote it, and you would be held to the usual rules, but other users could not.

  1. Would you use this feature?
  2. Would it make you less likely to delete/overwrite old comments?
  3. Am I overlooking an obvious way for bad actors to exploit this?

What would be the rules around use of personal information? People here frequently cite personal experiences, would the mods be piercing the veil and assigning discipline to accounts that lie?

Who says any personal experiences cited here are true?

Lie might be the wrong word. I don't care if they're true, but it seems like a violation for them to inconsistent but concealed in a way that can't be called out.

Like if I put on anon mode and started doing some "As A Woman" bit, that should be bannable.

IMO, any argument premised on the speaker's personal identity should be bannable regardless.

Dafuq? Quite a few of our best AAQCs involved people using their personal identity and knowledge to provide valuable context lost to the rest of us.

You're not going to win that one. Even 4channers often divulge personal details in their greentexts.

"Premised on" is an important qualifier in my post. People should feel free to cite personal knowledge and experience, but if their argument rises or falls based on that personal knowledge or experience being true, I think they are failing to make a real argument. If their argument boils down to "trust me bro, I know what I'm talking about" it's not contributing to the discussion.

I sometimes mention that I am a lawyer, and I am, but I don't expect anyone here to give me special trust or deference on legal topics because of it. I don't expect anyone to even believe me when I say I'm a lawyer. My arguments need to be independently supportable via evidence and reason, not purported credentials or lived experience.

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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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