Interview yourself

1. The claim

2. Where do you stand, before thinking about it?

How confident are you, 0 to 100?

3. Why?

What is the main reason you hold this position? Not all the reasons. The one that, if it went away, would matter most.

4. Is that reason doing the work?

Imagine you learned, to your satisfaction, that the reason above is false. Would your position change? If not, the real reason is something else. What is it?

5. Definitions

Pick the most loaded word in the claim. Define it in a way someone who disagrees with you would accept. If you can't, say why.

6. The best case against you

State the strongest argument for the other side so well that someone on that side would say "yes, that's it."

7. What would move you?

Name a specific piece of evidence, argument, or experience that would move you one line. If the answer is "nothing," ask whether you hold a belief or a commitment.

8. Where do you stand now?

Confidence now, 0 to 100?