The Scout Mindset (’s new book) sharply distills many key ideas from the rationalist world, but the framing is unusual and (I think) better! It presents motivated reasoning as rooted in important emotional functions which truth-seeking advocates must address/provide.
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Writing about rationality often imagines that if only we could just *explain* people’s biases to them and show them some Bayesian reasoning, they’d start thinking clearly.
But JG sees that motivated reasoning provides comfort, belonging, &c; alternatives must handle these needs.
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Of the functions discussed, I found “persuasion" the most surprising. Do you have to be confident to be compelling to others? Yes… but it’s enough to be *socially* confident; you don’t also have to be epistemically confident.
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One function I’d like to see more writing/exploring about is “morale” (believing things to motivate ourselves). This can be brittle and short-sighted, and a truth-seeking mindset will likely produce better results… but can it also be made to provide strong morale?
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JG suggests that a clear-sighted understanding of one’s odds can create a liberating sense of freedom, which I think is right… but it’s not *quite* the same thing as morale/motivation! Could it be?
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Ooo, the way you've framed this reminds me of a book I'm currently reading called Why We Need Religion by Stephen T Asma. Considering I'm liking that, I may really like 's book, too, thanks for sharing!
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This idea that religion has social and psychological utility seems to be percolating among disparate groups that all fall under the category of "sincere truth-seeking communities." Rationalist peeps and, in my experience, avant-garde art-world peeps.
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Looking forward to reading it. Been listening to Rationally Speaking this week after a long pause and I’d forgotten how good it is.
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Soldier vs Scout, Survival vs Replication, Yang vs Yin, Conservatives vs Liberals, Security vs Openness, Approximation vs First Principles. How far in questioning one's assumptions should the scout go? To the quantum level?
So far, this is the book’s unique feature and underlying value: put rationality in an emotional framework. No-one I’ve read has done this well pre-. That’s big.
#ScoutMindset Part III is all about this. Best chapters so far in a book whose chapters are all terrific.
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