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PaperclipPerfector  30d ago (text post)   2633 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for April 5, 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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(EDIT: PDF version from ToaKraka for people with bad internet.)

Which of the following would you rather have? CYOA - In general, people pick Comfort or Power. But the Motte is built different (laughs). As a fun exercise, pick your option and predict what the Motte will choose.

Me: YOUR CHOICE. The motte: Pleasure 20%, Adventure 20%, Comfort 20%, Good Works 20%, Power 20%

Wrap this part in || to spoiler, please. (And try to pick your honest choice rather than the socially desirable one if at all possible)

My answer is 100% Power. Ironically, the others are just a little too masturbate-y to me; Adventure might as well be as unreal as the pleasure machine specifically due to the constraints of the question- in that sure, you'll have adventure and some absurdly long lifespan, but you'll never have the opportunity to share it with anyone... would be hell. So is Good Works, for that matter, but for different reasons- sure, you'll be immortal, but you're also stuck in limbo. So, Power it is; it's basically a limited-time version of the others on Hard Mode anyway, which speaks further to it being the only correct choice.

As far as the Motte answer, I'm predicting 10% Pleasure, 0% Adventure, 20% Comfort, 0% Good Works, 70% Power because most of the users on this site are generally reality-focused anyway and the highest-percentage one there has the best ROI for those kinds of people.

Good job predicting the motte. I really thought people here, being rationalists, would go for the idea that a chemical reproduction of well-being would be equally worthwhile to eudaimonia from real accomplishments.

It's a shame there wasn't a Knowledge option, otherwise we could re-create that scene from HPMOR.

It's a shame there wasn't a Knowledge option

Maybe, but the only thing Knowledge rewards you with is Lamborghinis and I'm dreaming a little bigger than that.

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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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