The human brain is designed to lie to us. Over the years, it has evolved to help us ignore mistakes we make, fueling our own irrational, biological instincts. But what if we could train our minds to make more rational decisions, without the blow to our confidence?
Writer Julia Galef's insight is that most of us naturally have a 'soldier' mindset. We protect our beliefs aggressively and ignore any evidence that we might be wrong. She explains that to be more right more often, we need to approach ideas less like a soldier and more like a scout. A scout surveys the land, seeking accuracy and understanding to find all available information - good and bad - to gain a more truthful picture. While the soldier and the scout are both essential to an actual army, a scout mindset will benefit most of us more in decision-making.
With fascinating stories ranging from Warren Buffett's investing strategies to subreddit threads and modern partisan politics, Galef explores why our brains deceive us and what we can do to change the way we think.
