Devil's advocate

Playing devil's advocate even with ourselves is sometimes a good way to understand something. It helps keep us grounded and realistic and avoid the potential of deluding ourselves. 

I have always taken this approach with myself as a check and balance before coming to any conclusion. The alternative is to write a false narrative that could harm us down the road. 

I don't play devil's advocate for fun but instead as a path of resistance to first make sure I have examined all angles.

Call it the engineer in me.