The Steel Man Technique, Attention Cottage, & More

Can you develop a steel man argument? If you’re unsure about a decision and your gut fighting with your external sources of information is leaving you floundering, you can find a way forward with a ‘steel man argument’. This is the opposite of the ‘straw man argument’ you may be familiar with, whereby you argue against something based on false prem

Most people immediately start with a straw man, poking holes in the weakest version of the other side’s case. He does the reverse: he considers the strongest version of their case, which is known as the steel man.10 A politician might occasionally adopt that tactic to pander or persuade, but like a good scientist, Harish does it to learn.

You’ve likely heard of a straw man argument in which a weakened caricature of an opposing opinion is presented, only to be dismantled. A less discussed but more effective critical thinking technique is to create a steel man, which represents the very best thinking and most rigorous empirical proof of an opinion with which you disagree. Rather than

In addition, you could try Peter Thiel’s ‘steel man argument’ (see the questions at the end of Question 3 for more info) to think of the strongest arguments you can make against yourself. Be really tough, then try to see how you can develop and better cope with those arguments.