The Steel Man Technique

Put simply, the Steel Man Technique is to build the best form of the other side’s argument and then engage with it. It is a contrast to the fallacious ‘straw man’ technique, where one side creates only a caricature of the other side’s argument and engages with that.

People want to have their thoughts taken seriously and not brushed aside. The best way to do this is to show that you understand the thrust of their arguments by improving on the way the core idea is expressed. Anything less and you’ll merely be attacking a weak manifestation of an idea, and not the idea itself.