r/steelmanning

146 archived posts · Jun 2018 – Jul 2026

Steelmanning: The opposite of strawmanning

r/steelmanning

The steel man argument (or steelmanning) is the opposite of the straw man argument. The idea is to find the best form of the opponent's argument to test opposing opinions. The purpose of this subreddit is to collectively create the strongest version of arguments even if it is an argument you disagree with.

Created Jun 20, 2018 · restricted

3.1KMembers (last snapshot)

146Archived posts

Welcome

r/steelmanning is a place to collectively create the strongest version of arguments, even if they are arguments you disagree with.

Steel Man Definition

The steel man argument (or steelmanning) is the opposite of the straw man argument. The idea is to find the best form of the opponent's argument to test opposing opinions.

Rules

Understand what a steel man argument is.
Be civil and respectful.
Posts on extreme topics are okay so long as they are made with respect and approached with intellectual curiosity.
No memes

Best Practices

Commenters should attempt to further improve the OP's argument.
When disagreeing with the OP, there should be a spirit of adding to the steel man, or fixing holes in it.
Declare your actual belief when posting and commenting.
Reward intellectual honesty, curiosity, and openness with upvotes.
Downvote intellectual laziness.

Resources

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