I doubt that this particular idea is worth steelmanning. As far as I understand, the whole point of steelmanning is to learn something new by analyzing a perspective vastly different from “ours”. Steelmanning is hard and the payoff is uncertain. Steelmanning something you know to be nonsense is very hard to do, given that you don’t expect any payoff whatsoever.
Why is Young Earth Creationism not a good candidate for steelmanning? Because you know where these people come from: they have a severe case of motivated cognition due to their literal interpretation of a specific religious text. Given all the other problems with literalism, all the contradictions one has to overlook to believe it, what are the odds that their house of cards contains an element of a sound structure?
If your goal is to learn steelmanning, then it is best to start with an idea or a position which might contain a seed of new and useful information or ideas. Steelmanning deathism is something I’ve been trying to do here on occasion. Homeopathy might be another good candidate.
Steelmanning means finding and extracting a rational core inside the other person’s argument, even if other parts of the argument are irrational. The goal is to use this salvaged piece in constructing our map that matches the territory.
And sometimes… the rational core just isn’t there. You dig through the mud, and there is only the mud, no hidden treasure.
I doubt that this particular idea is worth steelmanning. As far as I understand, the whole point of steelmanning is to learn something new by analyzing a perspective vastly different from “ours”. Steelmanning is hard and the payoff is uncertain. Steelmanning something you know to be nonsense is very hard to do, given that you don’t expect any payoff whatsoever.
Why is Young Earth Creationism not a good candidate for steelmanning? Because you know where these people come from: they have a severe case of motivated cognition due to their literal interpretation of a specific religious text. Given all the other problems with literalism, all the contradictions one has to overlook to believe it, what are the odds that their house of cards contains an element of a sound structure?
If your goal is to learn steelmanning, then it is best to start with an idea or a position which might contain a seed of new and useful information or ideas. Steelmanning deathism is something I’ve been trying to do here on occasion. Homeopathy might be another good candidate.
Steelmanning means finding and extracting a rational core inside the other person’s argument, even if other parts of the argument are irrational. The goal is to use this salvaged piece in constructing our map that matches the territory.
And sometimes… the rational core just isn’t there. You dig through the mud, and there is only the mud, no hidden treasure.
… I didn’t realize my comment was so unclear as to need summarizing.
In other words, he didn’t think your comment added much to his original.