Khoth comments on Dangers of steelmanning / principle of charity - Less Wrong

88 Post author: gothgirl420666 16 January 2014 06:35AM

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Comment author: Khoth 16 January 2014 11:46:33AM 5 points [-]

I think it's not quite the same. Strawmanning is inventing a less defensible, normally more extreme, version of an argument. This is inventing a more defensible, less extreme version of an argument.

Comment author: Eugine_Nier 17 January 2014 03:08:59AM 1 point [-]

Strawmanning is inventing a less defensible, normally more extreme, version of an argument. This is inventing a more defensible, less extreme version of an argument.

Being more defensible and being more extreme are not the same thing, in fact frequently it is the more extreme versions of arguments that are easier to defend.

Comment author: ThisSpaceAvailable 24 January 2014 01:06:38AM 1 point [-]

No, this isn't creating a less extreme argument, it's creating a less extreme thesis.