There's a venerable tradition of writing an essay with the intention of attempting to understand a topic. People can misinterpret it; when deciding whether to support 'remain' or 'leave' in the Brexit referendum, Boris Johnson wrote two essays, each steelmanning one particular point of view. Somehow, the 'remain' essay was leaked later on, leading to the accusation that he didn't believe in the cause he was espousing. I can't think of a better way to decide a personal position on a tough topic though.