Steelmanned

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

Sam Harris

2 scored debates

30 challenges faced · 18,971 words scored

91
Debate integrity · record

Range 89–93 across 2 debates. Weighted by challenges faced, not words spoken: how hard each performance was tested.

Where these scores sit

050100

Sam: 89 (v panel of 3) · 93 (v Ben Shapiro) · 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, David Pakman's 92, Bret Weinstein's 90, Chris Cuomo's 89. We treat these as indistinguishable from it.

Component standings

Confronted the point97site 52–97
Argued clean94site 6–100
Dealt straight66site 0–87
Let them talk90site 75–100

Sam's strongest component is “Confronted the point” at 97. Across the 46 scored performances Steelmanned has published, that component runs 52–97: the highest we have recorded on that component.

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

PangburnStructured debate2h 05m

Sam Harris vs Jordan Peterson | God, Atheism, The Bible, Jesus - Part 1

Sam Harris
89
DIS ±8
On a panel with Jordan Peterson & Bret Weinstein
CRUX45% · N=16
97
CLEAN30% · 9,162W
88
DEALT15% · N=16
60
TALK10% · 205 TURNS
95

Confronted challenges scoring 34 of 35 crux weight across 16, granting 'Even facts aren't unmediated facts' and that a supernatural-stripped reading 'gets you some wisdom in the heuristic'; recorded 4.5 weighted fallacy points (0.49 per 1,000 words), including restating the ghost analogy after its mapping was challenged, and 2 interruptions.

16 challenges faced · 9,162 words scored · rubric v0.11
The Free PressPanel debate2h 13m

Trump or Kamala? Ben Shapiro and Sam Harris Debate.

Sam Harris
93
DIS ±8
Opposite Ben Shapiro · their score 87
CRUX45% · N=14
97
CLEAN30% · 9,809W
100
DEALT15% · N=14
73
TALK10% · 103 TURNS
85

Confronted 14 challenges (32/33 weighted); no fallacies across 9,809 words; made the pro-Harris 'return to normal politics' case, answered the Romney hypothetical directly ('I would probably vote for Romney'), refused certification-blocking ('I'm not gonna burn down the democracy in order to save it'), and conceded the border 'was a mistake' and wars 'didn't' break out; recorded 7 interruptions cutting into Shapiro mid-sentence.

14 challenges faced · 9,809 words scored · rubric v0.11

Portrait credits