The Scout Mindset

The Scout Mindset is one of the best books I know on reasoning clearly and developing a truth-seeking attitude. Galef argues that instead of being like “soldiers,” who engage in wishful thinking by defending the ideas they most want to believe, we should be more like “scouts,” whose goal is to actually find out what is true. The book includes some of the latest research on the skills and habits one needs to be an excellent reasoner. 

The author won my Trekkie heart when she conducted a study proving Spock is usually wrong…particularly the more certain he is. Galef breaks down our two types of thinking and why they do what they do, and then she helps us recognize bias in our own minds (something that is far more difficult to do than we might wish). She helps us lean into this new scout mindset and feel better about leaving our soldier mindset (motivated reasoning) behind. The book is also a great companion piece to the Rationally Speaking podcast that Galef cohosts with Massimo Pigliucci. Both will… show more.

If we want the ways that we try to help others to actually work, then we need to be able to see the world clearly and look at evidence in a clear-headed, unbiased way. Doing this isn’t easy, and Julia provides one really helpful tool to do so in this book. 

The book centres around the distinction between the ‘solider’ – who must defend himself and his tribe against attacks – and the ‘scout,’ who needs to see what’s really true about the territory in order to be of any use. When we communicate, too often we inhabit the solider… show more.

Even if you don't know anything about behavioral science, you know about confirmation bias, arguably the most insidious of our cognitive limitations. Simply put, people ignore or discount information that contradicts their beliefs, threatens their interests, or challenges their loyalties. Sure, we often spot this problem in others. But we also need to become aware of it – and to address it – in ourselves. In this book, Galef shows you, with practical, inspiring examples, how you can become a better, clearer, more rational thinker. This is the first book on thinking that I recommend to my students.