Take a brief moment to think about the last time you remember being emotionally invested in a political or social issue. While you probably felt certain your beliefs were correct, can you truly claim to have had a well-informed, defensible viewpoint on that (or any) issue without confronting the strongest criticisms of that belief? If you think you already know what the “other side” believes but you haven’t actually engaged with the best opposing arguments (other than to hastily note their “obvious” flaws so you can dismiss them), then you cannot possibly have a complete, well-reasoned opinion.
Hello, I'm Jeff.
If you’re anything like me, while you might want to feel like you’re right (or more accurately, avoid feeling like you’re wrong, especially publicly), you would rather be right. That is, you would ultimately like to truly make sense of the important issues that shape our world, even if that means you have to let go of some strongly held beliefs.
Some relatively small discomfort now from challenging your opinions on your own terms, when and how you choose, can nudge you towards a more accurate worldview and help protect you against avoidable ideological stress later when these opinions unexpectedly but inevitably bubble to the forefront of your daily life. Yet, in today’s world of algorithmically-curated echo chambers, it can be very hard to understand what the other side is really thinking. Not what people you already agree with say the other side is thinking, but what the other side themselves actually professes to believe. What are the best arguments, what is the steelman case, for the opposite of what you believe and where can you find it?
I have had a difficult time finding these steelmen. So I decided to try curating them myself and posting them here. Along the way I’ll also be exploring related topics useful for better decision making and for understanding our world.
Not for nothing, but writing this all down also helps clarify these ideas. It forces internal thoughts to become more focused and structured, facilitates better self-assessment, and invites outside critique.
I certainly do not have all the answers. I’m just hoping to take one more step in the right direction. Maybe you’ll find something interesting here, but I hope to at least create a home for some cognitive dissonance.
Send me your rubbuttles, additions, personal thoughts, stories, or other opinions to Jeff@pointcounterpoint.net. I would love to learn something from you.