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State the strongest responsible version of your argument, not the easiest version to dismiss.

When to use it

Use to make your own case at its best. In replies it also represents the other side fairly — it never swaps your position for theirs. The steelman must be one a thoughtful proponent would actually endorse.

Limits & risks

Steelmanning is not endorsement, and it has limits: do not build a 'strong' version of a claim that is hateful or demonstrably false. A steelman may make implicit reasoning explicit, but it never adds facts the author did not assert — the original stays linked so you can compare.