![]() It is the framework that guides motivated reasoning - using our powers of logic and deduction to protect a belief we already hold, rather than explore and probe new ideas. The inverse is the “soldier mindset”: the intellectual approach that focuses on protecting our views and defeating our opponents. It’s what prompts you to honestly ask yourself questions like “Was I at fault in that argument?” or “Is this risk worth it?” or “How would I react if someone from the other political party did the same thing”. Scout mindset is what allows you to recognize when you are wrong, to seek out your blind spots, to test your assumptions and change course. ![]() The “scout mindset” that Galef wants to promote is the mindset of seeking truth, of being motivated to understand the world as it truly is. Her book leans heavily on one metaphor: the idea of the “soldier mindset” versus the “scout mindset”. So she takes a different approach from the Malcolm Gladwells of the world: rather than telling us how we’re failing to think rationally, she dedicates much of her book to telling us why we should think rationally instead. Intelligence and education don’t seem to protect us from irrationality - indeed, sometimes it reinforces the problem. But Galef has realised that knowing that we’re biased doesn’t necessarily help us become any less biased. Most of us have heard a TED talk or read a pop-psych book on the various forms of cognitive bias that lead us astray. Galef is not the first author to propose a better way of thinking - she admits as much in the first few pages of the book. Into this battlefield marches Julia Galef with her plan to stop the fighting: The Scout Mindset, a well-argued plea to seek truth instead of war. Medical science, urban planning, climate change, transport design, economic theory - the range of fields where the truth is impossible to ascertain seems to expand with every tweet. The digital revolution seems to have unleashed a Misinformation Age. We are also very proud to present our second and biggest event ever! – and it is just around the corner, Aug 25 – 27,2023 at the Sunbridge Hotel & Convention Centre, which will be a Four Points Sheraton when Conference takes place.īAHACON 2023! – featuring an all-star list of 12 speakers that will knock your socks off!“Post-truth” seems to be the defining phrase of the 21st century. New members are always welcome to join us at all of these gatherings by simply contacting us. Our group holds a Skeptics Breakfast once a month, an annual Summer Barbeque and Winter Solstice Dinner, Wine with Ted Talks at Alton Wines, Skeptics at the Pub at the Refined Fool, Skeptics under the Bluewater Bridge in Point Edward and other social events. Our mission is to nurture a community in the Sarnia-Port Huron area that values secular humanism, promotes and preserves freethought in the public square, provides supportive fellowship, and engages in humanitarian good works. Our vision is of a society where reason and evidence guide individual and civic principles, and where none suffer prejudice for a commitment to rationality & truth. If you accept the natural over the supernatural, reality over mythology, and evidence over faith, then you’re in the right place. ![]() We are a group from an area called Bluewater Country with members from both sides of the St Clair river – in Sarnia, Ontario and in Port Huron, Michigan. This book, alongside learning basic logic and fallacies, should be required reading in any critical thinking course. Other suggestions are the ability to accept criticism, know your own biases, and finally, know critics who can help you verify your beliefs (or not). In fact some of the key indicators of being a Mind Scout is the ability to tell others when they were right and the ability to re-examine the evidence to prove yourself wrong. But as Galef points out, a critical thinker can use these mistakes to make course corrections in beliefs. It’s a wonder our imperfect brains allow any of us to do any rational thinking at all. the Soldier, to point out that critical thinking isn’t about always being right (the Soldier) it’s also mapping out the truth as best as one can determine at any moment in time (the Mind Scout). She uses the metaphor of the Mind Scout vs. ![]() The ideas she presents are old hat to seasoned critical thinkers but she has collected them all into an easy-to-digest book. Galef’s book looks at the various real-life important steps a critical thinker must take to avoid missteps. Own emotions which can lead to supporting positions that agree with our own ideology rather than the facts. Sadly not enough emphasis is put on working past our It is also how to apply these ideas to the real world. Critical thinking is not a case of simply learning logic, biases, and logical fallacies. ![]()
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