What is a Devil's Advocate?

posted by John Spacey , October 19, 2015 updated on September 26, 2017

Exploring unpopular ideas such as challenging the status quo.

The term stems from Catholic proceedings to decide if someone should be declared a saint. The devil's advocate is assigned the task of arguing against sainthood. Prospective saints tend to be popular figures, so arguing against them is an unfavorable position.

is the act of taking a position that you do not necessarily agree with for the purposes of argument. It is particularly associated with championing an unpopular position to explore a problem or decision

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