I experience Lemmy as a reflection of many of the problems in the world; there seems to be little effort to understand and respect different viewpoints. Instead of being curious about opinions one disagrees with, the community often feels almost aggressive. People end up in their own trenches. What about trying to be more open and curious about our differences instead?
Apparently we believe in freedom of speech—so long as the speech is something we agree with…
No, you were just pointing out the flaws in your strawman interpretation of their argument.
Steelmanning doesn’t mean making their argument better for them or “giving them the benefit of the doubt.” It means making sure you’ve actually understood their point correctly before you start explaining why you disagree. If you can’t steelman your opponent’s view, then by definition you can’t argue against it either - because you haven’t grasped what claim you’re even trying to counter in the first place.