Steelmanned

An integrity referee for public debates. We score how each side argued, never who won.

David Pakman

1 scored debate

7 challenges faced · 1,378 words scored

92
Debate integrity · one scored debate

Not a career average: Steelmanned has scored David once.

Where these scores sit

050100

David: 92 (v panel of 5) · shaded to our ±5–8 re-run band · all 46 scored performances shown

Inside our ±8-point re-run band of this record: Don Lemon's 92, Sam Harris's 93, Ben Shapiro's 94, Bret Weinstein's 90. We treat these as indistinguishable from it.

Component standings

Confronted the point89site 52–97
Argued clean100site 6–100
Dealt straight79site 0–87
Let them talk100site 75–100

David's strongest component is “Argued clean” at 100. Across the 46 scored performances Steelmanned has published, that component runs 6–100.

A 100 on "Argued clean" means no fallacy points were charged, not that no fallacies were logged. The scorecard lists every logged event, including zero-valued ones.

The record

David Pakman ShowPanel debate0h 41m

David Pakman, Ben Shapiro, Don Lemon, Tara Palmeri | Reuters NEXT Conference Debate, December 2025

David Pakman
92
DIS ±8
On a panel with Ben Shapiro, Don Lemon, Tara Palmeri & Mitali Mukherjee
CRUX45% · N=7
89
CLEAN30% · 1,378W
100
DEALT15% · N=7
79
TALK10% · 17 TURNS
100

Confronted 7 challenges (13.3/15); Dealt straight by granting outright that creators are remixers ('Oh yeah. Yes, they are'), and Acknowledged uncertainty ('I don't know where that goes'), but on the change legacy organizations should make gave a tip aimed at aspiring creators, engaged-not-answered.

7 challenges faced · 1,378 words scored · rubric v0.11

Portrait credits