PromptLearning
Steelman the counterargument to your position
A prompt for steelmanning the strongest opposing case against your position, then naming the one crux that would settle it.
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Your prompt
I hold this position: remote-first teams should default to async communication over meetings. My reasoning: meetings force everyone into the same time zone and interrupt deep work, and most updates don't need real-time discussion.
Write the STRONGEST version of the opposing case — the argument a smart, well-informed critic who disagrees with me would actually make, not a weak version that's easy to dismiss. Use real considerations, not a strawman. Then name the single crux: the one fact, definition or value disagreement that, if resolved, would settle which side is right. If my reasoning already addresses the strongest counterargument, say that plainly instead of manufacturing a new objection just to seem balanced.
Model-agnostic — works in Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini or any AI chat.
Why this prompt works
- →Explicitly demanding the strongest version, not an easy one, directly fixes the tendency to generate a counterargument that flatters the stated position.
- →Asking for a single crux instead of a list of objections forces the answer toward what would actually change your mind, rather than a diffuse pile of disagreements.
- →Permission to say "my reasoning already covers this" stops the model from padding the response with a manufactured objection just to look balanced.