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PaperclipPerfector  3mo ago (text post)   2491 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.

So, any time someone cites personal experiences or opinions it should be bannable? How far does that extend? Does citing one's profession? One's nationality? That seems kinda unworkable.

Any time someone makes an argument premised on (i.e. an argument that rises or falls based on) personal experiences or opinions being true, they should be warned or banned for doing so. People need to make arguments that other people can engage with. Claiming epistemic privilege based on identity, credentials, lived experiences, etc. is antithetical to this. It's the fallacy of appeal to authority.

How do you define premised in a useful way?

It's tough to draw the line between "argument premised on a personal experience," and "argument that uses an anecdotal story to illustrate a theory."

I also find that people sharing their personal experiences can help me to understand their arguments even if I still disagree. Many times I've seen arguments about marriage, gender-war stuff, dating; and inevitably one of my interlocutors tells me something about themselves and I say OH NOW IT MAKES SENSE. I hear people forwarding theories about how marriage is terrible and women are awful blood-sucking harpies, and then they start talking about their wives and I remember how blessed I am. I hear people talking about how awful modern women are to date, and I realize I need to check my pretty-privilege and whatnot. It is useful to have that knowledge, it helps to bridge the gaps.

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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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