Pick a view you hold strongly. Now build the strongest version of the argument against you. The one the smartest person on the other side would make.
Step 1 of 5 · Your view
What's a view you hold strongly?
Pick one you'd be embarrassed to be wrong about. Political, ethical, personal — doesn't matter. State it as a sentence. "I believe…" or "It's clear that…"
What does the smartest person who disagrees with you start from? Not the strawman. The premise they hold that, if you accepted it, would make their conclusion follow.
Step 3 of 5 · Their evidence
What would they point at?
Evidence, history, or lived experience they'd cite. Be specific. "They'd point to…" — a study, a city, a family member, a job loss they saw firsthand.
Step 4 of 5 · Their value
What do they care about?
Under the argument is a value. Name it. Not "they're selfish" — that's not steel-manning. What good thing are they trying to protect? Freedom? Dignity? The most vulnerable? Stability?
Step 5 of 5 · The load-bearing test
Would the person you're steel-manning recognize themselves in this?
A steel-man you've never tested against a real person is still a guess in a flattering wrapper. Pick the most honest answer.
And one more thing · pick a stress-tester
Two thinkers, each with a different question they'd put to your card. Pick the one whose question you'd rather avoid.
The Argument Card
Disclosure: Author has not yet tested this with the person being steel-manned. The card is a draft until they do.
Two sides.
Where I stand
The strongest version of the other side
They start fromThey point atThey're protecting
Stress-test
Let your tester find the hole.
One probe. Then you can ask harder, or call it wrong and move on.
listening…
That wasn't right. Sit with the card as you wrote it — your draft is the work.
Now do something with it.
This card only does work if it leaves the screen. Pick one:
1.Have the conversation. Find someone who holds the view you just steel-manned. Show them this card. Ask: "Did I get it right?" Listen for the corrections.
2.Sit with the discomfort. Read the "their side" block out loud. Ask yourself: if this is right, what would I have to change about how I argue?
3.Pass it on. Print it. Save it. Send it to the friend who disagrees with you most.
Where the idea comes from. "Steel-manning" was coined as the opposite of straw-manning — instead of attacking the weakest form of an opponent's view, you reconstruct the strongest one before you respond. It's the working definition of epistemic modesty from the talk: holding your strongest views with one notch less certainty than your gut tells you to. The discipline is older than the word — Mill argued for it in On Liberty (1859), Galef makes the modern case in The Scout Mindset (2021).