Before attempting to resolve any contradiction, construct
Before attempting to resolve any contradiction, construct the strongest possible argument for each side in a form that advocates of each position would recognize as their own.
Why This Is a Principle
This is a derived principle grounding to Automatic Narrative Generation Precedes Conscious Evaluation (automatic causal narratives arrive pre-packaged), Belief Perseverance Against Contradictory Evidence (cognitive systems maintain existing beliefs even when contradicted), and Mental Models Are Singular by Default (people construct a single mental model without spontaneously generating alternatives). The principle prescribes a specific action (steel-manning) that follows from these axioms about how human cognition naturally operates. It is actionable, general across domains, and not itself foundational.
Source Lessons
Steel-man both sides
Before resolving a contradiction make the strongest possible case for each side.
Contradictory relationships surface tensions
When two ideas contradict each other, both cannot be fully true in the same sense — the tension between them is informative, not a problem to suppress.