👉 The Scout Mindset: Why Some People See Things Clearly and Others Don’t by Julia Galef
Notes
Part I: The Case for Scout Mindset
Chapter 1: Two Types of Thinking
Explains the soldier mindset using military metaphors in reasoning, showing its ubiquity and naturalness.
In directionally motivated reasoning… we disproportionately put our effort into finding evidence/reasons that support what we wish were true.
Chapter 2: What the Soldier is Protecting
Discusses the emotional comfort and social reasons, like impression management and signaling, that motivate the soldier mindset.
Emotional reasons:
- comfort
- self-esteem (feeling good about ourselves)
- morale (motivating ourselves to do hard things)
Social reasons:
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persuasion
- “I’m sure I can convince others”
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image
- chose beliefs that makes us look good (-> Identity)
“Psychologists call it impression management, and evolutionary psychologists call it signaling: When considering a claim, we implicitly ask ourselves, ‘What kind of person would believe a claim like this, and is that how I want others to see me?’”
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belonging
- defend social groups we are part of
“We use motivated reasoning not because we don’t know any better but because we’re trying to protect things that are vitally important to us.”
Beliefs can be deep-rooted, well-grounded, built on fact, and backed up by arguments. They rest on solid foundations. We might hold a firm conviction or a strong opinion, be secure in our convictions or have an unshakeable faith in something.” This soldier mindset leads us to defend against people who might “poke holes” in our logic, “shoot down” our beliefs, or confront us with a “knock-down” argument, all of which may be our beliefs are “undermined”, “weakened”, or even “destroyed” so we become “entrenched” in them less we “surrender” to the opposing position
Chapter 3: Why Truth is More Valuable Than We Realize
Examines the unconscious trade-offs between soldier and scout mindsets, and our biases that cause us to overvalue the former.
- We make unconscious trade-offs
- depending on the “goal” and use-case, it’s our mind which decides which strategy (scout vs. soldier) works best
“Are we rationally orrational?”
As always there are some biases in our decision-making that cause us to go for the soldier mindset:
- We overvalue the immediate rewards of soldier mindset
- we prefer small rewards now over large ones later
- We Underestimate the value of building scout habits
- cognitive skills and rationality are hard to gain
- We underestimate the ripple effects of self-deception
- We overestimate social costs
Part II: Developing Self-Awareness
Chapter 4: Signs of a Scout
Suggests that the illusion of being a scout can be broken by concrete examples of scout-like behavior, such as acting on criticism or proving yourself wrong.
- Feeling objective doesn’t mean you’re a scout
- Being smart and knowledgeable doesn’t make you a scout
- Practicing scout mindset will make you a scout
Some cues to look for (and at the same time signs you might be a scout):
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Do you tell other people when you realize they were right?
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How do you deal with criticism?
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“Do you avoi biasing the information you get?”
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Do you have good critics?
Can you name people who are critical of your beliefs, profession, or life choices who you consider thoughtful, even if you believe they’re wrong? Or can you at least name reasons why someone might disagree with you that you would consider reasonable?"
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But the most important one: Do you remember occasions when you were in the solider mindset?
“A key factor preventing us from being in scout mindset more frequently is our conviction that we’re already in it.”
“The only real sign of a scout is whether you act like one.”
Chapter 5: Noticing Bias
Introduces the concept of “forcing” and offers thought experiments like the double standard test and the outsider test to detect motivated reasoning.
“Forcing is what your brain is doing to get away with motivated reasoning while still making you feel like you’re being objective.”
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Tests mentioned
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The Double Standard Test
This test asks whether you are judging one person or group by a standard that you would not apply to another person or group. It’s a way to check for inconsistent application of principles.
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The Outsider Test
It involves imagining someone else in your situation or imagining yourself as an outsider to your own situation. This helps to gain a fresh perspective and to see one’s biases more clearly.
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The Conformity Test
This test asks if you would still hold your belief if other people no longer held it, to check if your belief is based on evidence or social conformity.
An example:
If an idea that is commonly accepted and agreed upon by everyone was considered unusual, would you still be interested in pursuing it? If not, it could be a sign of conformity bias. For example, if only 5% of people chose to get married or have kids, would you still want to be part of that 5%? Similarly, if starting a business after high school became the norm and going to college instead was seen as a strange and contrarian choice, would you still choose to pursue college?
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The Selective Skeptic Test
It’s about imagining how credible you would find a piece of evidence if it supported the opposite side of an argument. This can reveal if you’re being selectively critical.
How credible would you consider the same evidence if it supported the other side?
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The Status Quo Bias Test
This one asks if you would actively choose your current situation if it wasn’t the status quo, helping to identify if you’re rationalizing the status quo just because it’s familiar.
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Chapter 6: How Sure Are You?
Emphasizes the importance of distinguishing between levels of certainty and the idea of calibration.
The key idea is to get good at being wrong because we like to feel certain. However, quantifying ones uncertainty is also a prediction how likely I am right.
“Your strength as a scout is in your ability… to think in shades of gray instead of black and white.”
You should aim for this skill:
“being able to tell the difference between the feeling of making a claim and the feeling of actually trying to guess what’s true.”
Jeff Bezos openly stated that when he started Amazon, he believed there was only a 30% chance of success and even warned investors that they could potentially lose all their money. Similarly, Elon Musk expressed that the chances of SpaceX working were less than 10%. Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, admitted that he has never had 100% confidence in cryptocurrency and consistently remains uncertain about it as a sector.
Part III: Thriving Without Illusions
Chapter 7: Coping with Reality
Advocates for honest coping mechanisms in emergencies over the distortion of reality.
Chapter 8: Motivation Without Self-Deception
Argues for motivation derived from the recognition of bets worth taking based on their expected value rather than overconfidence.
“Scouts aren’t motivated by the thought ‘This is going to succeed.’ They’re motivated by the thought ‘This is a bet worth taking.’”
Chapter 9: Influence Without Overconfidence
Differentiates between epistemic and social confidence and discusses communicating uncertainty effectively.
There are 2 types of confidence:
- epistemic confidence
- how sure are you about what’s true
- social confidence
- influencing people requires social confidence
People will judge by social confidence. People will not trust you if you are uncertain (due to inexperience/ignorance/stupidity) but not if you seem uncertain due to reality being messy and unpredictable.
Quote: “You don’t need to promise success to be inspiring… There are lots of ways to get people excited that don’t require you to lie to others or to yourself.”
Summaries
Key Principles of the Scout Mindset
The Scout Mindset leans on several key principles:
- Intellectual Honesty: Actively seeking the truth even if it contradicts your current beliefs.
- Epistemic Humility: Recognizing the limits of one’s knowledge and being open to new information.
- Bayesian Thinking: Continually updating one’s beliefs based on new evidence, often modeled in a probabilistic framework.
- Motivated Reasoning: Understanding the biases and motivations that might lead you away from the truth.
- Belief Updating: Willingly changing your beliefs when you encounter compelling evidence.
How it can be applied
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In a business context, the Scout Mindset can be a key factor in decision-making and strategy formulation. It allows for a more nuanced understanding of market trends, consumer behavior, and competitive landscape. When companies encourage a culture of intellectual honesty and openness, they are better positioned to adapt and innovate.
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In healthcare, it can be particularly useful for diagnosis and treatment plans. Medical professionals often have to update their beliefs and methodologies based on new research findings and patient data. A Scout Mindset encourages evidence-based practice and avoids the pitfalls of sticking to outdated methods.
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In academia and research, the Scout Mindset is crucial for unbiased exploration and hypothesis testing. Researchers must be willing to revise their theories in light of new data, and this mindset provides a structured approach to belief updating and academic integrity.
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On a personal level, adopting the Scout Mindset can improve relationships, career development, and general well-being. It allows individuals to confront their biases, reassess their goals and aspirations, and make more rational choices in their daily lives.
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The mindset also finds applications in public policy and governance, where decision-makers must sift through complex data and stakeholder interests to formulate policies that serve the greater good. Intellectual honesty and a commitment to truth are vital in such high-stakes scenarios.
How and Why the Soldier mindset manifests
This mindset can manifest through various aspects:
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Emotional Reasoning: People often use their emotional states as evidence for the validity of their thoughts or beliefs.
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Cognitive Dissonance: The mental discomfort one feels when holding conflicting beliefs often leads to rationalizing or ignoring contradictory evidence.
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Identity-Protective Cognition: This occurs when people align their beliefs with those of the groups to which they feel emotionally connected.
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Ego Defense: The need to protect self-esteem and self-concept can cause people to reject evidence that contradicts their self-perception.
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Groupthink: A strong desire for harmony within a group can suppress dissenting viewpoints, leading to poor decision-making.
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Reactive Devaluation: People often devalue proposals and information if they think it comes from an opposing or competing source.
Similarities to “Thinking, Fast and Slow”
Here are some parallels with the Soldier Mindset:
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Emotional Reasoning & System 1
Both the Soldier Mindset’s emotional reasoning and System 1 thinking rely on quick, intuitive judgments. They’re efficient but can be error-prone.
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Cognitive Dissonance & Heuristic Thinking
System 1 utilizes heuristics or mental shortcuts, which can lead to cognitive biases similar to those experienced in cognitive dissonance within the Soldier Mindset.
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Identity-Protective Cognition & Group Biases
Kahneman discusses social and group biases that influence decision-making, similar to the identity-protective cognition in the Soldier Mindset.
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Ego Defense & Self-Serving Biases
Kahneman talks about self-serving biases, where individuals attribute success to their own actions and failures to external factors. This mirrors the ego defense mechanism in the Soldier Mindset.
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Groupthink & Anchoring
Kahneman describes the anchoring effect, where people rely too heavily on the first piece of information they receive. This can contribute to groupthink, a feature of the Soldier Mindset.
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Reactive Devaluation & Prospect Theory
Kahneman’s prospect theory talks about the asymmetry between the psychological impact of gains and losses, which can be related to the reactive devaluation in the Soldier Mindset when evaluating propositions from adversaries.
Shifting from Soldier to Scout Mindset
Some pratical steps:
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Self-Awareness & Mindfulness
The first step is to be aware of your own cognitive biases and emotional triggers. Mindfulness practices can help you become more attuned to your thoughts and emotional states.
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Critical Thinking
Challenge your beliefs by actively seeking out information that contradicts them. Engage in Socratic questioning to dissect the assumptions behind your beliefs.
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Open Dialogues
Foster an environment where differing opinions are welcomed and explored. This will help break down the barriers of groupthink and identity-protective cognition.
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Frequent Reflection
Make it a habit to review your beliefs and decisions regularly. Keep a journal to track changes in your thought process over time.
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Engage System 2
When faced with a complex issue, take the time to engage your more analytical and deliberate System 2 thinking. This can be facilitated through techniques like pros and cons lists, decision matrices, or consulting with others.
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Cognitive Reappraisal
Learn to reinterpret situations or events in a more neutral or positive light. This is particularly useful for overcoming emotional reasoning and reactive devaluation.
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Accountability Partners
Having someone to challenge your thoughts and hold you accountable can be invaluable. Seek people who are equally committed to intellectual honesty.
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Embrace Uncertainty
The Scout Mindset requires comfort with uncertainty. Acknowledge that it’s okay not to have all the answers and be open to changing your mind as new information becomes available.
Quotes
Quote 1
The example of intellectual honor I find myself thinking about most often is a story related by Richard Dawkins from his years as a student in the zoology department at Oxford. At the time there was a major controversy in biology over a cellular structure called the Golgi apparatus - was it real or an illusion created by our observational methods?
One day, a young visiting scholar from the United States came to the department and gave a talk in which he presented new and compelling evidence that the Golgi apparatus was, in fact, real. Sitting in the audience of that talk was one of Oxford’s most respected zoologists, an elderly professor who was known for his position that the Golgi apparatus was illusory. So of course, throughout the talk, everyone was stealing glances at the professor, wondering: How’s he taking this? What’s he going to say?
At the end of the talk, the elderly Oxford professor rose from his seat, walked up to the front of the lecture hall, and reached out to shake hands with the visiting scholar, saying, “My dear fellow, I wish to thank you. I have been wrong these fifteen years.” The lecture hall burst into applause.
Dawkins says: “The memory of this incident still brings a lump to my throat.” It brings a lump to my throat too, every time I retell that story. That’s the kind of person I want to be - and that’s often enough to inspire me to choose scout mindset, even when the temptations of soldier mindset are strong.
Resources
Some good summaries/critics: