We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
" A steel man argument (or steelmanning) is the opposite of a straw man argument. Steelmanning is the practice of addressing the strongest form of the other person's argument, even if it's not the one they presented."
The two contradictory items in the mind at the same time can be smart and clever.
#1
Amused by Interesting Times
on
2023-06-08 19:57
(Reply)
QUOTE:
Steel man Argument
A similar concept is the Principle of Charity, wherein one assumes the most meaningful interpretation of an interlocutor’s dialogue. So, if someone refers to “Caesar,” then, given Julius Caesar is the best fit in context, not to undermine the position by implicitly assuming they were referring to Augustus Caesar. The idea is to communicate rather than “win” the argument.