Against Steelmanning | Thing of Things

I hate the word ‘steelmanning.’ Steelmanning refers to arguing with the best possible version of someone’s argument, even if it’s not the one they presented. Put like that, …

Tags ozy blog post , rationality I hate the word ‘steelmanning.’ Steelmanning refers to arguing with the best possible version of someone’s argument, even if it’s not the one they presented . Put like that, it sounds really good! After all, we all think it’s important not to misrepresent people [citation needed]; trying to present the best possible version of someone’s argument is good. The problem is that every time I’ve seen the word ‘steelman’ used, it’s referring to one of two things. In the least obnoxious case, Alice misinterpre

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