thinking-steel-manning

1# Steel-Manning
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3**Core rule:** Engage the best form of the opposing case, not a weak one. If your position survives that, reaffirm; if not, update.
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5## When to Use
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7- About to reject a proposal, design, or alternative approach.
8- Inclined to agree with the user/plan and risk sycophancy — construct the best case *against* first.
9- Design review, architecture debate, or conflict where trade-offs are real.
10- Validating your own preferred decision before locking it (strongest-countercase check).
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12## When NOT to Use
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14- Settled fact, security anti-pattern, or violated hard requirement — correct it; do not invent a defense of what is wrong.
15- You already agree for stated, weighed reasons — do not perform a fake debate.
16- Trivial or fully reversible choices where deliberation cost exceeds downside.
17- Live emergency — act first; steel-man in the post-incident review.
18- Need definition/assumption cleanup, not opposition — use socratic.
19- Need failure scenarios for a plan — use pre-mortem; need attacker paths — use red-team.
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21## Procedure
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231. **State the target claim or decision** you are about to accept or reject, in one sentence. Name the real alternative if one exists.
242. **Extract the core insight** behind the opposing position (or against your preferred path): the legitimate concern even if the proposed solution is wrong.
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