Steel Man and Weak Point Finder
Fair evaluation: first strengthen the argument to its best form, then systematically find where it breaks.
What Is Steel Manning (and Why It Matters)
You’ve probably heard of a straw man argument — attacking a weak or distorted version of someone’s position. It’s intellectually lazy, and it lets you “win” debates you never really had.
A steel man argument is the opposite. It means presenting the strongest possible version of an argument — even one you disagree with — before you critique it. You give your opponent’s position its best shot, then see if it still fails.
This isn’t about being nice. It’s about being rigorous. If you can only defeat the weakest version of an opposing view, you haven’t really defeated it. You’ve just found the easy target. The steel man argument prompt forces you to engage with substance, not shadows.
How the Prompt Works
The PR021 prompt above does two things in sequence:
First, it builds the steel man. AI restates the argument in its most compelling, coherent, and defensible form. It fills in logical gaps the author left implicit. It assumes the author’s best intentions and strongest evidence.
Then, it stress-tests the steel man. Even the strongest version of an argument has vulnerabilities — logical weak points, missing evidence, conditions under which it would fail. AI identifies these systematically.
The result is a two-part analysis: the best case for the argument, and the best case against it. You get intellectual ammunition for both sides.
After running the steel man prompt, ask this follow-up: “Now, which of these weak points is most likely to be fatal to the argument, and which are manageable objections the author could address?” This forces AI to rank the weaknesses by severity.
When to Use This Prompt
The steel man approach is especially powerful in three situations:
When you disagree with an argument. Before rejecting a position, make sure you understand it at its best. You might discover the position is stronger than you thought — or find a more precise point of disagreement.
When evaluating your own arguments. Flip the lens. Apply the steel man treatment to an opposing view of your position. What’s the strongest case against what you believe? This is how you find your own blind spots.
When reading persuasive content. Op-eds, essays, and opinion pieces often present arguments in their most persuasive (not necessarily strongest) form. Steel manning reveals whether the argument holds up when you strip away the rhetoric.
You can pair this prompt with the Assumption Hunter to uncover hidden premises before stress-testing, or with the Argument Map Prompt to visualize the structure before you rebuild it.
Understanding the Weak Point Analysis
The second half of the prompt — the stress test — generates three types of vulnerabilities:
Logical weaknesses: Where does the reasoning not hold? Are there leaps in logic, false dichotomies, or conclusions that don’t follow from premises?
Counter-evidence: What evidence might exist that contradicts the argument? What data would an opponent cite?
Failure conditions: What would need to be true for this argument to fail entirely? This is the most powerful question — it forces you to identify the argument’s load-bearing assumptions.
Consider the argument: “Remote work is better for productivity because employees save commute time.” The steel man version would add supporting evidence: research on deep work, employee autonomy, and reduced office interruptions. The weak point analysis would then identify failure conditions: the argument fails if collaboration is essential, if home environments are distracting, or if the productivity gains are offset by coordination costs. Neither the original nor the critique captures the full picture — but together, they give you a map of where the argument is strong and where it’s fragile.
What to Do With the Results
Once you have AI’s steel man and weak point analysis, you’re equipped to make a judgment:
Evaluate the steel man. Does the strongest version of the argument convince you? If yes, maybe you should update your view. If no, move to the weak points.
Assess the weak points. Are the vulnerabilities AI identified fatal, or merely inconvenient? Can the argument survive with slight modifications?
Form your position. You now have the materials for a nuanced view: “This argument is strong in X conditions but fails when Y is true.”
AI can construct steel men and identify structural weaknesses, but it can’t weigh values. If an argument depends on a moral premise (like “individual liberty matters more than collective efficiency”), AI can’t tell you whether that premise is correct — only what follows if you accept it.
Build Your Critical Reading Stack
The Steel Man Prompt is the final tool in the Critical Reading pillar. For comprehensive argument analysis, combine it with:
Argument Map Prompt — Visualize the structure (claims, reasons, evidence) before you rebuild it
Assumption Hunter — Uncover hidden premises the argument depends on
AI for Reading Hub — Explore all reading skills from comprehension to synthesis
Frequently Asked Questions
Test Arguments, Find Weaknesses, Read Critically
These prompts show you the method. The course gives you 365 articles with challenging arguments, expert analysis, and structured practice — the reps that make critical thinking automatic.
Start Learning →You’ve Completed the Critical Reading Pillar
You now have 8 prompts for bias detection, evidence evaluation, argument mapping, assumption hunting, and stress-testing. Return to the pillar to review, or explore the full AI for Reading hub.
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