Steelman

[Woodruff]

Also many posts are such a mish-mash of unconnected facts myths and opinions that it's honestly difficult to understand what's meant, or how much the poster would appreciate any attempt at clarification. Sometimes I jump in and summarize one or both sides so we can cut to the chase.

Is this about Nostradamus?

No, that's over in the thread with Viceroy and Universalchiro.

[thegreekdog]

3. The payoffs are small. The steelman approach is best for publishable research--not bullshitting on the internet.

This is sort of why I don't put more sources and time into my posts. Ultimately, I'm not going to convince whomever I'm arguing against, so the payoff is too small. I really only do it when I want to make someone look stupid or make others believe me, and even then I feel like I get a lot of untyped "tl;dr" or "oh, that TGD, always trying to do lawyer stuff."

I understand the argument that you're not going to change someone else's mind (I don't particularly agree that's ALWAYS the case, but I understand it), and so the payoff is too small. That being said, I've never thought that of your posts. Or anyone I can think of other than PLAYER, actually. Although Viceroy and universalchiro are headed that direction for me too.

For my part, I think I tend not to think in terms of the Steelman simply because I am a reactionary poster. I don't tend to start conversations, I tend to react to what is posted. And becasue of that, I react to specific statements to support or attack those statements. I guess I'm tunnel-visioned. Hopefully that also helps me to avoid the Strawman as well.

I will also note that the amount of time I put into my answer depends on the person with whom I'm debating. I will put less time (or more likely nowadays, no time) in a response to pimpdave or Player because I don't expect to get a relevant response in return. I will put more time in a response to BBS or Mets or you because I am likely to get a reasonable response in return. And then there are people like ooge or Phatscotty where I just want them to stop talking out of their asses where I may post a lengthy response. But that's few and far between because clearly a demonstration of their relative political hackery and hypocrisy has not been effective. The response I get from Phatscotty is either indignation or a persecution complex. And I'm pretty sure ooge doesn't even read my posts anymore. But it still provides me with enjoyment to respond to them.

In sum, it's all about me baby!