---
title: The Steel Man
published_at: 2016-08-06T17:33:13Z
---

While listening to Sam Harris' _Waking Up_ this morning, the debate technique
of a ["steel man"][steel-man] came up, which was a new one to me.

While the term of a "straw man" has now entered common vernacular these days,
especially in the computing industry, its opposite idea is much less common.
While the straw man refers to building a position that mischaracterizes your
opponent's view or is otherwise easy to defeat, a steel man builds an argument
that's _better_ constructed than an opponent may have been able to do. Tearing
it down is proportionally more difficult, and doing so further solidifies your
own position.

[steel-man]: https://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Steel_man

---
title: The Steel Man
published_at: 2016-08-06T17:33:13Z
---

While listening to Sam Harris' _Waking Up_ this morning, the debate technique
of a ["steel man"][steel-man] came up, which was new to me.

While the term of a "straw man" has now entered common vernacular, especially
in the computing industry, its opposite idea is much less common. The straw man
refers to building a position that mischaracterizes an opponent's view or is
otherwise easy to defeat, a steel man builds an argument that's _better_
constructed than an opponent can articulate themselves. Tearing it down is
proportionally more difficult, and doing so further solidifies your own
position.

[steel-man]: https://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Steel_man

Correct lots of bad writing in this one
Correct lots of bad writing in this one


Former-commit-id: 6d497eeaa12fb66b023dd47d190e89b19c2eaabc