Viliam_Bur comments on Steelmanning Young Earth Creationism - Less Wrong

2 Post author: ChrisHallquist 17 February 2014 07:17AM

You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.

Comments (57)

You are viewing a single comment's thread. Show more comments above.

Comment author: Viliam_Bur 18 February 2014 11:44:26AM 2 points [-]

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.

Comment author: shminux 18 February 2014 05:20:16PM -1 points [-]

... I didn't realize my comment was so unclear as to need summarizing.

Comment author: Randy_M 18 February 2014 08:36:39PM -1 points [-]

In other words, he didn't think your comment added much to his original.