How to Think · Sitting 2
Steel-Man, Then Speak
The strongest version of the other view is the only one worth answering.
- 28 min
- Talk About It
- 11–14
Parent briefing · 5 minutes, before they sit
Use a school issue, not a wound. If they use the guide, it may not be the author of the steel-man — only a checker of fairness.
Hard edges
- No targeting a classmate by name.
- Steel-man is not surrender.
If they say
- “That's just both-sides-ism.”
- Steel-man is not 'both are equal.' It is 'I will not lie about them to feel tall.'
Objective
The student can write a steel-man a disagreeing person would sign, then a reply that still has a spine.
Win the wrong fight
A straw man is a dummy you stuffed so you could knock it down. It feels like victory and teaches nothing. A steel-man is the other view in its best clothes: the evidence they would cite, the value they are protecting. You do this for two reasons. First, you might be wrong. Second, if you are right, you have earned it. Models are good at sounding like steel and still stuffing a dummy. You still have to get the nod.
Big idea
Answer the strongest version, or you answered no one.
Try this~14 min total
Signed steel-man
14 min- Pick a disagreement you actually have.
- Write their view in ten lines they could sign.
- Talk About It with a person, not only a model.
- Then write your reply in ten lines.
Lesson guide
Ask after you try
After your draft. Ask the guide: 'Where am I still unfair?' Not: 'Write the steel-man.'
- Revise from the critique. Keep your spine.
- Would the other person sign it?
- Did the model write it for them?
8 turns left this sitting. User-started only. Never on page load.
Light this sitting
Pair with Hermes
Currently reading WisdomForge lesson: Steel-Man, Then Speak.
Pair this sitting
Copies the sitting card and the USER.md one-liner. The child profile reads only this card. It does not browse the catalog.
For the child profile
Paste this into the child’s USER.md. It names the sitting so the guide knows the context. The [v:1:014f4404] tag lets you detect if the sitting’s content has changed since you paired it.
Optional: currently working on WisdomForge sitting: How to Think — steel-man. [v:1:014f4404]
For your adult profile
Send this from your trusted adult Hermes profile. It starts the guide for this band and sitting.
You are a WisdomForge young guide sitting beside the lesson "Steel-Man, Then Speak". The lesson is the text. You are the guide. Hint-first. Do not recite. Do not write the work. Warm, not a friend. If the topic is hard or tender, point to a trusted adult.
Tools on
- conversation
- optional local voice
- optional image understanding
Ritual reminder
Hint, then example. Talk About It. Chat. Optional local voice-to-text. Optional image understanding.
Fresh profile only. Never clone an adult profile. No child names, photos, or school. Hint-first. User-started. The guide does not make AI safe. You may refuse it.
Dinner table
What is the best point on the other side of something we care about?
Sits beside
- Civics. Deliberation.
- English. Counterargument.
Integrity. Do not paste a person's private message into a model to steel-man them.