I disagree with this take, and fortunately now have a post to link to. I think steelmanning is a fine response to this situation.
I think your (3) is the one I spend the most time digging into in the post, and I feel quite confident is not a good reason not to steelman.
Re: 1&2, I agree Iâm, like, not that bullish on getting a bunch of value from this book, but it looks like a bunch of people have already gotten value from the theme of excessive focus on measurability. And generally I want to see more constructive engagement with criticism, and donât think âeh, low prior on it workingâ is a good critique of a good mental move.
Thanks. I hadnât seen that post, nor most of the arguments against steelmanning that Rob Bensinger mentions. I thought I was expressing a less popular view than now seems to me to be the case. I found it particularly interesting to read that Holden Karnofsky finds it unsatisfying to engage with âsteelmannedâ versions of his views.
I agree with you that steelmanning in the context of a discussion with others or of interpreting the views of others is importantly different from steelmanning in your own inner monologue, and I think the latter may be justified in some cases. Specifically, I think steelmanning can indeed be useful as a heuristic device for uncovering relevant considerations for or against some view as part of a brainstorming session. This seems pretty different from how steelmanning is typically applied, though.
I disagree with this take, and fortunately now have a post to link to. I think steelmanning is a fine response to this situation.
I think your (3) is the one I spend the most time digging into in the post, and I feel quite confident is not a good reason not to steelman.
Re: 1&2, I agree Iâm, like, not that bullish on getting a bunch of value from this book, but it looks like a bunch of people have already gotten value from the theme of excessive focus on measurability. And generally I want to see more constructive engagement with criticism, and donât think âeh, low prior on it workingâ is a good critique of a good mental move.
Thanks. I hadnât seen that post, nor most of the arguments against steelmanning that Rob Bensinger mentions. I thought I was expressing a less popular view than now seems to me to be the case. I found it particularly interesting to read that Holden Karnofsky finds it unsatisfying to engage with âsteelmannedâ versions of his views.
I agree with you that steelmanning in the context of a discussion with others or of interpreting the views of others is importantly different from steelmanning in your own inner monologue, and I think the latter may be justified in some cases. Specifically, I think steelmanning can indeed be useful as a heuristic device for uncovering relevant considerations for or against some view as part of a brainstorming session. This seems pretty different from how steelmanning is typically applied, though.