Interesting. I also found this article extremely personally relevant. While not as big a contrast as your case, in 8th grade I got a D- in geometry and honors on the California Golden State Exam for geometry -- that last much to the amazement of my teacher, who was forced to present the award to me at assembly.
I also identify with the duality from the article of being an average thinker in the moment, but having very strong reasoning skills. It seems half the smart people I know are sharper than I am, but people regard my reasoning and verbal debate skills...
If you take a position on virtually any issue that's controversial or interesting, there will be weaknesses to your position. Actual weaknesses. I thought the purpose of steelmanning was to find and acknowledge those weaknesses, not merely give the appearance of acknowledging weaknesses. If that's not right, then I think we need a new word for the latter concept because that one seems more useful and truth seeking. If you're stretching things beyond the domains of validity and using tricks, it sounds awfully like you're setting up straw men, at the very least in your own mind. Seems more debate club than rationality.
Moldbug cannot survive on a progressive message board. He was hellbanned from Hacker News right away. Log in to Hacker News and turn on showdead: http://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=moldbug
...or like women's suffrage or abolition!
Not all poetry is equally valid or has equally defensible aims.