middle ground

The truth is not automatically halfway between two positions.

Wrong: “You say six weeks, they say six months—let’s call it three.”

Right: “Which estimate is actually based on the work?”

Splitting the difference rewards whoever started furthest from reality.

Also the argument to moderation. Compromise is a fine way to settle preferences and a terrible way to settle facts. Where the middle lands depends entirely on how extreme the endpoints were, which means anyone can move it by staking out a sillier position.

The legitimate version: when both sides hold real evidence, the answer often is somewhere between. That’s a conclusion you reach by weighing, not by averaging.

Now go weigh it instead of splitting it.