The Scout Mindset: Why Some People See Things Clearly and Others Don't

by Julia Galef

Leaning in to confusion is about inverting the way you’re used to seeing the world. Instead of dismissing observations that contradict your theories, get curious about them. Instead of writing people off as irrational when they don’t behave the way you think they should, ask yourself why their behavior might be rational. Instead of trying to fit confusing observations into your preexisting theories, treat them as clues to a new theory.

That story was immortalized by historian Doris Kearns Goodwin in her bestselling 2005 book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln.

Dissent isn’t all that useful from people you don’t respect or from people who don’t even share enough common ground with you to agree that you’re supposed to be on the same team.

The belief “climate change isn’t real” is supported by other beliefs Kevin holds about how the world works and which sources are trustworthy. For Kevin to significantly update the belief “climate change isn’t real,” he’ll have to also update a few of his associated beliefs,

In chapter 10 (“How to Be Wrong”), we saw how most people implicitly assume that their “map” of reality is supposed to be already correct. If they have to make any changes to it, that’s a sign that they messed up somewhere along the way. Scouts have the opposite assumption. We all start out with wildly incorrect maps, and over time, as we get more information, we make them somewhat more accurate. Revising your map is a sign you’re doing things right.

“When the world around you is constantly shouting about how wrong you are, declaring your superiority can feel like a legitimate response, the only way to oppose such strong negative messaging,”

“People can change” is a statement about how you think the world works. But “I believe people can change” is a statement about you, about what kind of person you are—generous, forgiving, compassionate.

When a label is more than just a practical description of your beliefs—when it feels like a status symbol or a source of pride—then the question of who else gets to wear that label actually matters. It becomes important to police the identity’s boundaries.

The problem with identity is that it wrecks your ability to think clearly. Identifying with a belief makes you feel like you have to be ready to defend it, which motivates you to focus your attention on collecting evidence in its favor.

Holding an identity lightly means treating that identity as contingent, saying to yourself, “I’m a liberal, for as long as it continues to seem to me that liberalism is just.” Or “I’m a feminist, but I would abandon the movement if for some reason I came to believe it was causing net harm.” It means maintaining a sense of your own beliefs and values, independent of the tribe’s beliefs and values, and acknowledging—at least in the privacy of your own head—the places where those two things diverge.

it’s hard to change someone’s mind when you feel morally and intellectually superior to them.

Acknowledging the weaknesses in your “side” can go a long way toward showing someone from the other side that you’re not just a zealot parroting dogma, and that you might be worth listening

You’ve probably known activists who spend the bulk of their energy fighting with other activists they’re already 95 percent in agreement with over that remaining 5 percent sliver of disagreement. Sigmund Freud called it the “narcissism of small differences”—for the purposes of affirming your identity, the most tempting fight is often the one that helps distinguish you from your ideological neighbors.

“I knew that we would never be so pure and fervent in our belief that we were right, because we were actually going to be engaged and, therefore, be more responsible for some of the things that actually happened,” Harrington said.

To be an effective activist you need to be able to perceive when it will be most impactful to cooperate, and when it will be most impactful to disrupt, on a case-by-case basis. Holding your identity lightly is what allows you to make those judgment calls

But in the medium-to-long term, one of the biggest things you can do to change your thinking is to change the people you surround yourself with.

Personally, I find all those facets of scout mindset inspiring—the willingness to prioritize impact over identity; the confidence to be unconfident; the courage to face reality. But if I were to name one single facet I find most inspiring, it’s the idea of being intellectually honorable: wanting the truth to win out, and putting that principle above your own ego.