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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   2540 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for March 22, 2024

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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Someone shared with me this pretty cool website, you can click on a philosopher and see links in the past and future to see who had similar ideas that agreed or disagreed.

This is really cool! Not only a concise summary of some of their philosophies, but how other philosophers supported or rebutted their claims. I been realizing my browsing of the internet, like so many others, is increasingly stagnant and I only frequent about 5-10 websites regularly. Anyone else have some cool websites to check out?

https://search.marginalia.nu/

This is an independent DIY search engine that focuses on non-commercial content, and attempts to show you sites you perhaps weren't aware of in favor of the sort of sites you probably already knew existed.

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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.


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