THINKER'S ALMANAC - April 18

What superpower that will make us more intellectually honest debaters can we acquire by studying Superman?

Subject:  Argumentation - “Steel Man”

Event:  Superman debuts in the first issue of Action Comics, 1938

"Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings at a single bound!"

On this day in 1938, the most iconic comic superhero of all time Superman appeared in the first issue of Action Comics.  

Known as “The Man of Steel,” Superman is widely recognized for his crime-fighting prowess; however, we might repurpose this hero as a symbol for becoming more intellectually honest thinkers and arguers.

Too often rather than turning to the man of steel, debaters employ the straw man fallacy.  This is where one side misrepresents their opponent’s argument by exaggerating it or by creating a caricature of it.  This approach is especially dishonest because instead of directly engaging the opposing argument, the debater attempts to sidestep a rational argument and replace it with an easy-to-attack, mischaracterization.  For example, imagine a debate about the Second Amendment.  One side might argue that the Second Amendment does not preclude a government’s attempts to impose regulations that make guns 

safer.  The other side might reasonably respond by addressing their opponents' argument about safety regulations, but instead they respond with a straw man, saying, “You just want the government to break down the door of every gun owner and confiscate all their guns!”

Imagine if instead of responding with the intellectually dishonest and sloppy straw man fallacy, the debater constructed a steel man.   This would require that the debtor first restates his opponent’s argument in a way that was so honest and accurate that the opponent nods in agreement that it is a correct restatement (1).

The “Man of Steel” might be the prescription we need to begin building a bridge over the political gulf that divides our country.  It’s no easy challenge though.  After all, our first instinct is to create a straw man of our opponent’s argument because it’s so easy.  Steelmanning, however, is more intellectually demanding, and it requires real understanding and empathy.  Furthermore, steelmanning an argument goes against the traditional view of argument as verbal warfare.  In trying to state the best form of our opponent’s argument, we have to be willing to sacrifice the winner/loser model of debate for a model that brings both sides closer to the truth.

In 1859, long before Action Comics appeared, the British philosopher John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) in his essay On Liberty challenged his readers to fortify their thinking by seeking out arguments in opposition to theirs:

He who knows only his own side of the case, knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them. But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side; if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion.  (2)

Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason:  What is the straw man fallacy, and how is steelmanning a better approach to discovering the truth?

Challenge  - Super Heroes of Thinking:  Seldom do we view thinking as a superpower, but it is in fact the one trait that sets humans apart from all other animals.  If you were to grant one person the status of superhero based on something smart that he or she said, who would it be, and what did he/she say?

ALSO ON THIS DAY:

April 18, 1942:  Today is the birthday of Peter Gogolak, the status quo-busting football player who first introduced the soccer style placekicking style that is now the standard approach to kicking field goals in the NFL. After playing in the AFL for the Buffalo Bills, Gogolak was traded to the NFL’s New York Giants in 1966.

Sources:

1-Jacobs, Alan. How To Think:  A Survival Guide for a World at Odds. New York:  Currency, 2017.

2-Mill, John Stuart. On Liberty, Chapter 2