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Steel man. Interesting: http://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Steel_man http://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Steel_man . Sort of an idea in the vein of (but stronger than) t

• yummyfajitas 12y ago
  Yes, the steelman is a stronger variation of the typical principle of charity. It goes beyond interpreting your opponent's argument as strongly as possible, all the way to actually fixing your opponent's argument. It's a great technique, one that I'm not as good at as I'd like to be. On the one hand, arguments supporting feminism that I see tend to be vacuous and borderline dishonest (case in point: this article). But there are sufficiently many smart and honest people who buy into the general theory that it's hard for me to completely reject it. That's why I'm so curious in threads like these, and why I'd love to see a steelman. Some good steelmen would allow me to draw a reasonable conclusion about the theory itself, rather than merely it's vocal proponents. I could then safely either accept or reject it.
• jessaustin 12y ago
  ISTM that term could stand some improvement before being used in a feminist discussion.