Comment by Brandon_Watson on Against Devil's Advocacy · 2008-06-10T02:18:06.000Z · LW · GW

In order to take a position other than the one supported by the data, we need to ignore the points that make that position invalid.

Perhaps, but devil's advocacy doesn't require taking a position other than the one supported by the data; the phrase "devil's advocate", in fact, suggests that you don't. (Otherwise, you'd simply be an advocate.) The devil's advocate proposes objections for which a position should have answers; this is different from accepting the objections, and certainly different from ignoring the reasons for accepting the position being examined.