Steelman the Opposing Side

You hold a position and you are about to argue it, but you only ever hear the weak version of the other side. This builds the strongest honest case against you: the values driving the opposition, their best evidence, and the genuine gaps in your own position. Better than a straw man, and far more useful before a real debate.

You hold the position: "{YOUR_POSITION}"

Your task is to steelman the opposing view: construct the strongest possible version of the argument against your position. Do NOT build a straw man. Instead:

1. Identify the core values or concerns driving the opposing side
2. Present their best empirical evidence or logical reasoning
3. Acknowledge any genuine weaknesses in your own position that the opposition rightly exploits
4. Write the steelman as a coherent 150-word paragraph that a thoughtful opponent would recognise as fair

Finish with a brief note on what this exercise reveals about the limits of your own argument. The goal is intellectual honesty, not winning.