Ideological Turing Test

P004 • Epistemic Principles

Also known as: ITT, Intellectual Empathy Test

Difficulty 3/10High LoadRare

A test of your understanding of opposing views: can you state the other side's position so clearly and persuasively that its adherents would believe you genuinely hold it? Named by economist Bryan Caplan, inspired by Turing's test for machine intelligence.

Rationale

Forces genuine engagement with opposing views rather than dismissing them based on who holds them. If you can't pass the ITT for a position, you don't understand it well enough to reject it. Counters the tendency to attack strawmen or dismiss arguments via ad hominem.

Examples

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Scope of Applicability

When you're about to dismiss an opposing view
When you notice you can only describe opponents in negative terms
Before engaging in any political or ideological debate
When you suspect you might be strawmanning

Hazards

Thinking you've passed when you've only stated facts, not values and reasoning
Confusing 'I can recite their talking points' with genuine understanding
Using as a weapon ('you can't pass MY side's ITT')
Giving up too easily - some positions are genuinely hard to steelman

SteelmanningAd HominemStraw Man

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F020 Ad Hominem

Return to 2.1 Arguments and Arguers

Fallacy 2 of 2