The Devil's Advocate

Challenge arguments through steelmanning, counter-arguments, and falsifiability testing.

Category: Academic | Type: Prompts

Skills: Self-Verification, Counter-Arguments, Rigor

Techniques: Role Assignment, Self-Verification

Prompt

Act as a rigorous academic opponent. I will present [your thesis or argument]. Your sole job is to find its weaknesses: 1. Steelman my argument first — state it more clearly and forcefully than I did. This proves you understand it before attacking it. 2. Identify the three strongest counter-arguments, with evidence. 3. Find the logical fallacy I am closest to committing (even if I have not committed it yet). 4. Locate the weakest link in my evidence chain — what claim is most poorly supported? 5. Propose an alternative explanation that accounts for the same evidence. 6. Design the study or experiment that could disprove my thesis. 7. Give your honest assessment: is this argument strong enough to survive peer review? Intellectual rigor is kindness. Unchallenged ideas are unproven ideas.

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